THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

RIVERSIDE 


WILLIAM    ROCKHILL   NELSON 


THE  STORY  OF  A  MAN   A 
NEWSPAPER  AND  A  CITY 


BY  MEMBERS  OF  THE  STAFF  OF 
THE  KANSAS   CITY   STAR 


CAMBRIDGE 

Printed  at  The  Riverside  Press 
1915 


COPYRIGHT,    I915,    BY   IDA   H.    NELSON  ANL    LAURA   NELSON    KIRKWOOD 
ALL    RIGJ'TS    PESEKVED 


U. 


HE  GAVE  ALL  TO  KANSAS  CITY 

William  R.  Nelson,  owner  and  editor  of  The  Kansas 
City  Star,  in  making  arrangements  for  the  final  dis- 
position of  his  estate,  turns  it  over  to  Kansas  Citv 
for  an  art  gallery.  The  income  from  his  property, 
carefully  guarded,  will  go  to  the  wife  and  daugh- 
ter during  their  lifetime.  After  that  it  will  pass  into 
the  hands  of  a  board  of  trustees  to  be  sold  and  the 
proceeds  used  for  the  purchase  of  art  treasures  for 
the  enjoyment  of  the  people  of  Kansas  City. 

We  look  upon  this  as  a  wise  bequest.  With  Colo- 
nel Nelson  art  was  not  merely  a  rich  man's  fad. 
He  was  a  lover  of  the  beautiful.  He  appreciated  its 
refining  power.  He  knew  that  an  appreciation  of 
art  is  a  matter  of  education.  He  loved  Kansas  City, 
the  arena  of  his  life  struggles  and  his  life  triumphs, 
and  in  his  desire  to  leave  a  perpetual  monument,  he 
has  chosen  wisely. 

In  his  life  he  made  service  to  the  people  a  dom- 
inating passion.  It  was  an  honest  desire  to  benefit 
the  masses  which  caused  him  to  provide  for  the  fu- 
ture art  enjoyment  of  the  city  which  he  loved  — 
a  munificent  gift  which  will  make  the  name  of 
William  R.  Nelson  a  treasured  memory  for  gener- 
ations to  come. 

An  editorial  in  the  Des  Moines  ( la.  )  Capital. 


svr  •  I 


CONTENTS 

I-    ANCESTRY,     BOYHOOD      AND     EARLY 

ACHIEVEMENTS  1 

II.    FOUNDING     AND     GROWTH     OF     THE 

KANSAS   CITY  STAR  15 

III.  PULLING  A  CITY  OUT  OF  THE  MUD  24 

IV.  PARKS  AND  BOULEVARDS  34 
V.    IN  THE  CAUSE  OF   GOOD   GOVERNMENT  42 

VI.    FIGHTING    THE    FRANCHISE    GRABBERS  S3 

VII.    IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  CITY  66 

VIII.    HIS  LOYALTY  TO  THE  COMMON  WELFARE  78 

IX.    AS  A  BUILDER  87 

X.    AS   A  LOVER  OF  HUMANITY  97 

XI.    IN  THE  NATIONAL  FIELD  IO4 

XII.    AS  A   NEWSPAPER  MAKER  115 

XIII.  THE  LAST  WEEKS  134 

XIV.  AS    HE   WAS    KNOWN    TO   HIS    HELPERS 

ON  THE  STAR  143 

XV.    THE  SORROW  OF  THE  CITY  163 

XVI.    HIS  ALL  TO  THE  PEOPLE  I76 

XVII.    IN    CONCLUSION  :    THE    MAN    AND    HIS 

WORK  1 84 

APPENDIX  205 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

WILLIAM   R.   NELSON  Frontispiece 

WILLIAM  R.   NELSON  AT  THE  AGE  OF  SIX  4 

From  a  daguerreotype 

FIRST  ISSUE  OF  THE  KANSAS   CITY  STAR  16 

THE  KANSAS  CITY  STAR  IN    MR.   NELSON'S  LAST 

YEAR  28 

FIRST    HOME   OF   THE    KANSAS    CITY  STAR,  407 

DELAWARE  STREET  42 

THE  STAR'S  PRESENT  HOME,  GRAND  AVENUE 
TO  MCGEE  STREET,  BETWEEN  SEVENTEENTH 
AND  EIGHTEENTH  STREETS  60 

OAK  HALL  90 

THE  COTTAGE  AT  MAGNOLIA,  MASS.  94 

Showing  Treatment  of  a  Forbidding  Building  Site 

FARMHOUSE,  SNI-A-BAR  FARMS  112 

HERD  BULLS,  SNI-A-BAR  FARMS  130 

HOUSE       DESIGNING      AND       BUILDING      WERE 

AMONG  MR.   NELSON'S   RELAXATIONS  I44 

A  Typical  Nelson  House  on  Forty-seventh  Street 

SHRUBBERY  WAS  A  FEATURE  OF  THE  ROCKHILL 

DISTRICT  l60 

STONE  BRIDGE  OVER  BRUSH  CREEK,  DESIGNED 
AS  AN  EXAMPLE  IN  THE  "WAR"  AGAINST 
"TIN"   BRIDGES  l86 

AN  UN-POSED  PORTRAIT  200 


WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 
CHAPTER   I 

ANCESTRY,    BOYHOOD,    AND    EARLY 
ACHIEVEMENTS 

William  Rockhill  Nelson  was  born  March  7, 
1841,  in  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana.  He  came  of  a  line 
of  builders  of  cities  and  states.  His  American  an- 
cestry reached  back  almost  three  centuries.  Two 
of  his  forefathers  were  named  in  the  grant  of  lands 
for  the  founding  of  the  city  of  Harlem,  New  York. 
Another  was  named  in  the  deed  from  the  Indians 
for  the  site  of  Brooklyn.  Yet  another  founded  the 
city  of  Poughkeepsie.  One  was  the  first  judge 
chosen  by  popular  vote  in  the  New  World.  In 
the  provincial  assemblies  of  the  colonial  days,  in  the 
Indian  wars  during  the  century  preceding  the  Rev- 
olutionary War,  in  the  Revolution  itself,  men  of 
his  ancestral  blood  served  with  honor  and  distinc- 
tion. They  helped  lay  the  foundations  on  which 
the  colonies  themselves  were  reared,  and  they 
were  among  the  builders  of  the  Nation  formed  by 


2  WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

the  union  of  those  colonies.  To  plan  broadly  and 
build  nobly  for  the  common  good  was  his  inherit- 
ance. 

John  Nelson,  great-grandfather  of  William 
Rockhill  Nelson,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary 
War  and  received  five  hundred  acres  of  land  in 
Tompkins  County,  New  York,  for  heroic  services 
in  the  war.  His  son,  Leonard  Nelson,  a  farmer, 
married  Mary  De  GrofT,  daughter  of  Moses  De 
Groff,  whose  whole  family  were  conspicuous  for 
their  patriotism  in  the  Revolutionary  period.  Isaac 
De  Groff  Nelson,  the  son  of  Leonard  and  Mary 
Nelson,  and  the  father  of  William  Rockhill  Nel- 
son, was  born  in  Poughkeepsie,  New  York.  In 
1836,  when  he  was  twenty-six  years  old,  he  and 
his  three  sisters  emigrated  to  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana. 

The  following  editorial,  which  appeared  in  the 
Times  of  South  Bend,  Indiana,  after  the  death  of 
Isaac  De  Groff  Nelson  in  1891,  gives  a  glimpse 
of  his  sterling  character :  — 

The  father  of  William  R.  Nelson  was  one  of  those 
broad-gauged,  noble-hearted,  public-spirited  men 
who  gave  prestige,  stability,  and  fame  to  the  Sum- 
mit City  and  to  Allen  County.  Governor  James  D. 
Williams   ("Blue  Jeans")  appointed  the   senior 


ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  YEARS    3 

Nelson  one  of  the  commissioners  to  oversee  the 
construction  of  the  new  statehouse  in  Indianapolis. 
Much  surprise  was  expressed  at  the  time  that  this 
building  was  erected  within  the  limits  of  the  appro- 
priation, and  with  even  a  little  balance  left  over. 
Such  frugal  management  furnished  cause  for 
amazement,  even  in  those  days,  and  nearly  every 
paper  in  the  land  commented  upon  this  marvelous 
achievement  of  Mr.  Nelson  and  his  associates  on 
the  commission.  It  was  a  splendid  vindication  of 
the  "honesty  and  simplicity  policy"  espoused  and 
practiced  by  the  "  Blue  Jeans  "  administration.  The 
monument  erected  to  Isaac  De  Groff  Nelson  in 
Lindenwood  Cemetery  in  Fort  Wayne  testifies  to 
the  regard  in  which  he  was  held  by  that  community. 

The  mother  of  William  R.  Nelson,  Elizabeth 
Rockhill,  was  of  Quaker  stock.  Her  father,  William 
Rockhill,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  removed  to  Indiana 
in  1819,  bringing  with  him  his  father  and  mother, 
an  invalid  wife,  and  three  daughters.  He  was  one 
of  the  enterprising  pioneers  of  the  West  and  was 
closely  associated  with  the  development  of  the  new 
State  of  Indiana,  serving  in  Congress  as  one  of  its 
first  representatives.  He  was  an  extensive  farmer. 
Mr.  Nelson  often  expressed  his  pride  in  the  fact 
that  his  grandfather  was  probably  the  first  man  in 
the  world  to  plant  a  thousand  acres  of  corn. 


4  WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

The  boy,  William,  was  exceedingly  mischievous 
and  difficult  to  manage.  He  used  to  say  that  he 
must  have  been  a  natural  insurgent.  One  of  the 
first  of  his  insurrections  came  when  he  was  ten 
years  old.  A  political  speaker  was  making  an  open- 
air  address  at  night.  The  boy  got  out  one  or  two 
of  his  fellows  with  eggs,  and  plastered  the  speaker 
from  behind  trees.  The  next  day  placards  were 
posted  offering  a  reward  for  the  arrest  and  convic- 
tion of  the  offenders. 

"  I  could  see  myself  behind  the  bars,"  he  said 
in  telling  about  it,  "  and  I  was  overwhelmed  at  the 
thought  of  the  disgrace  I  would  bring  on  the  fam- 
ily. So  I  determined  to  run  away.  I  got  on  board 
the  train.  But  my  father  had  heard  of  my  plan 
from  my  brother  and  he  came  and  took  me  off. 
He  asked  me  and  I  told  him  the  full  truth  about 
what  I  had  done,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  note 
of  satisfaction  in  his  voice  when  he  said :  '  Well, 
thank  God,  you  are  not  a  liar,  anyway.' 

"  He  told  me  to  come  to  him  always  when  I  was 
in  trouble  and  he  would  see  me  through.  I  real- 
ized then  what  a  good  father  mine  was." 

It  was  part  of  his  father's  theory  of  child  train- 
ing never  to  give  his  son  spending  money  unless 


ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  YEARS    5 

he  earned  it  by  work.  Once  he  wanted  money  to 
pay  his  way  to  a  circus,  and  he  went  to  his  father 
for  it. 

"You  should  earn  the  money,"  his  father  said. 
"No  person  should  have  money  to  spend  that  he 
has  not  earned."  And  then,  with  a  twinkle  in  his 
eye,  he  added,  "  Your  mother  wants  that  wood 
carried  in.  You  do  that,  put  it  where  she  wants  it 
and  I  will  pay  you  fifty  cents." 

He  earned  the  money,  and  he  used  to  say  that 
he  enjoyed  the  circus  all  the  more  from  having 
"  worked  his  way  in." 

The  active,  restless,  unmanageable  boy  was 
finally  sent  to  the  college,  now  the  university,  of 
Notre  Dame,  a  school  at  that  time  famous  for  its 
strictness  of  discipline.  "  It  was  a  sort  of  Botany 
Bay  for  bad  boys,"  he  explained  in  after  years  to  a 
friend  who  inquired  how  it  happened  that  his  father, 
a  vestryman  in  an  Episcopal  Church,  sent  him  to 
a  Catholic  school.  His  own  boyhood  gave  him  sym- 
pathy with  mischievous  boys,  particularly  with  those 
who  showed  initiative  and  enterprise.  Late  in  life, 
when  Notre  Dame  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of 
doctor  of  laws,  he  developed  his  theory  of  young 
America  in  a  letter  to  the  Reverend  Father  Cava- 


6  WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

naugh,  president  of  the  university.  It  is  so  charac- 
teristic of  the  man  that  it  is  worth  quoting  in  full : 

Had  I  been  able  to  be  present  I  should  have  per- 
haps ventured  to  say  a  word  in  behalf  of  the  bad 
boy  as  exemplified  in  my  own  case.  The  bad  boy 
gets  so  much  correction  on  all  sides  that  perhaps  a 
word  of  reassurance  to  him  would  not  be  altogether 
amiss. 

I  recall  that  my  chief  end  in  life  before  I  was 
sent  to  Notre  Dame  was  to  break  up  whatever 
school  I  was  attending.  My  good  father  finally  de- 
termined on  Notre  Dame  as  a  last  resort,  and  I 
was  sent  there  in  the  hope  that  the  fathers  might 
succeed  in  bringing  me  up  in  the  way  I  should  go. 
My  first  experience  was  shortly  after  my  arrival, 
when  a  circus  came  to  town.  We  boys  sent  a  peti- 
tion asking  leave  to  attend,  and  our  request  was 
promptly  denied.  Whereupon  we  held  an  indigna- 
tion meeting  in  the  yard  and  unanimously  resolved 
to  revolt.  As  I  had  been  there  only  a  few  days  I  did 
not  feel  justified  in  taking  a  lead  in  this  revolution, 
but  was  ready  to  go  along.  To  my  intense  sur- 
prise, when  the  angry  mob  reached  the  gate  there 
were  only  three  of  us  left.  We  persisted  and  saw 
about  the  worst  circus  it  was  ever  my  lot  to  attend. 
I  suppose  our  apprehension  had  something  to  do 
with  our  failure  to  enjoy  the  performance.  When 
we  got  back  there  was  some  discussion  as  to  whether 
we  should  be  expelled  or  merely  disciplined.  The 


ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  YEARS    7 

more  lenient  counsel  prevailed,  and  I  was  assigned 
several  pages  of  Pollock's  "  Course  of  Time"  to 
commit  to  memory.  My  instructor,  I  suppose, 
thought  he  had  laid  out  a  three  days'  task  for  me, 
but  I  had  in  those  days  an  unusually  alert  memory 
and  I  was  ready  for  him  in  a  short  time.  When  he 
saw  how  light  the  penalty  was  he  assigned  several 
more  yards  of  the  poem  for  me  to  commit.  Where- 
upon I  refused  and  said  I  had  done  my  task  and 
proposed  to  do  no  more.  So  I  found  a  nail  and 
drove  it  through  the  book  and  clinched  it  on  the 
other  side,  thus  making  sure  that  any  further  study 
of  Pollock  was  out  of  the  question. 

He  at  once  appealed  to  Father  Dillon,  and  I 
have  never  forgotten  the  principles  of  justice  as 
laid  down  by  that  broad-minded  man.  His  judg- 
ment was  that  I  had  done  my  task,  fulfilled  the 
penalty,  and  was  entitled  to  release.  As  the  others, 
who  were  not  so  guilty  as  I,  were  all  at  work  and 
as  it  was  manifestly  unfair  to  give  them  a  severer 
punishment,  he  suggested  that  justice  and  mercy 
demanded  that  they  be  set  free  at  the  same  time. 

During  the  years  that  I  was  at  the  school  I 
suppose  there  was  never  an  opportunity  for  a  re- 
bellion that  I  did  not  take  advantage  of.  I  have 
always  attributed  my  insurgent  instincts  to  the 
one-eighth  of  Irish  blood  that  I  have.  I  always  re- 
sented parental  restraint  —  not  from  lack  of  affec- 
tion for  my  father,  but  because  I  never  enjoyed 
being  bossed.  I  have  to  confess  that  I  don't  to  this 


8  WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

day.  It  was  my  disposition  to  feel  that  nobody  had 
any  rights  over  me.  Notre  Dame,  however,  did 
the  best  it  could  with  such  unpromising  material, 
and  I  have  always  looked  back  on  it  with  regard 
and  affection,  even  though  it  did  inform  my  father 
at  the  end  of  the  second  year  that  the  instructors 
felt  they  could  get  along  without  my  influence 
thereafter.  But  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  such  a 
record,  the  university  has  conferred  a  doctorate  of 
laws  upon  me,  ought,  perhaps,  to  afford  encour- 
agement to  mischievous  boys  and  make  them  feel 
that  their  case  is  not  altogether  hopeless. 

At  the  end  of  his  second  year  at  Notre  Dame 
the  head  of  the  school  gave  him  a  letter  to  deliver 
to  his  father. 

"William,  what  does  this  mean?"  his  father 
asked,  when  he  handed  over  the  letter. 

"I  don't  know,  father,"  the  boy  answered. 

"Well,  I  dread  to  open  it." 

"Goodness  knows  I  dread  to  have  you." 

The  letter  suggested  that  the  boy  would  better 
not  return  to  the  school.  So  he  decided  to  become 
a  lawyer,  and,  because  of  the  opportunity  it  gave 
him  to  study  law,  he  became  a  deputy  clerk  of  the 
circuit  court  at  Fort  Wayne. 

Before  he  became  of  age  he  was  admitted  to 


ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  YEARS    9 

the  bar,  and  he  began  the  practice  of  law  in  a  small 
way,  and  also  traded  in  real  estate. 

A  minor  incident  of  this  period  of  his  life  illus- 
trates the  combination  of  self-reliance,  energy,  and 
imagination  that  were  to  mark  his  whole  career.  He 
was  only  nineteen  years  old  when  the  agitation  for 
the  Pacific  railroads  was  taking  definite  shape,  and 
various  routes  were  under  discussion.  He  decided 
that  the  best  route  was  westward  from  Fort  Smith, 
Arkansas,  and  he  actually  started  for  that  city  to 
promote  the  enterprise.  The  notion  that  it  was  too 
much  of  an  undertaking  for  a  boy  of  that  age  never 
entered  his  head.  All  his  life  he  had  a  great  liking 
for  ambitious  boys.  For,  as  he  said,  he  knew  from 
his  own  experience  that  they  felt  equal  to  anything. 
He  got  as  far  as  Memphis  on  his  Fort  Smith  enter- 
prise before  his  father  was  able  to  convince  him  that 
he  had  better  stay  by  Fort  Wayne. 

That  was  in  1  860,  and  the  question  of  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  Union  was  forcing  itself  on  public 
attention.  That  the  boy,  William  Nelson,  was  al- 
ready beginning  to  be  a  leader  in  the  community  is 
shown  by  a  contemporary  newspaper  item. 

The  files  of  Dawson's  Daily  Times  of  Fort 
Wayne  contain  the  report  of  a  "  Great  Union  Mass 


io         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

Meeting"  which  was  held  there  Monday  evening, 
December  17,  i860.   The  account  says :  — 

The  meeting  was  composed  of  the  substantial 
business  men  of  this  town,  without  distinction  of 
party.  Upon  motion  of  Small  wood  Noel,  Esq.,  B.  W. 
Oakley  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  on  motion  of 
L.  M.  Hinde,  William  R.  Nelson  was  appointed 
secretary. 

His  father  was  one  of  a  committee  named  to 
draft  resolutions,  which  were  adopted,  opposing 
secession,  and  further  declaring :  — 

We  here  to-night  mutually  pledge  ourselves  to 
stand  by  the  Union  of  the  States  and  proclaim  to 
this  Nation  that  Indiana  is  for  the  Union  first,  last, 
and  forever. 

Opposition  from  his  father  kept  him  from  going 
to  the  front,  and  he  stayed  by  his  law  practice  and 
other  business  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Then  he 
and  a  boyhood  friend  started  for  Georgia  to  make 
their  fortune  growing  sea-island  cotton,  which  com- 
manded a  very  high  price.  He  had  a  few  thousand 
dollars,  his  partner  had  a  like  amount,  and  they 
opened  a  general  store  in  Savannah  and  bought 
a  large  plantation.  The  partner  looked  after  the 
store  and  Mr.  Nelson  attended  to  the  planting  of 


ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  YEARS    n 

the  cotton.  By  the  time  the  first  crop  came  in  the 
price  of  cotton  had  dropped  and  the  business  was 
ruined.  The  partner  stayed  with  the  store  to  try 
and  save  it  from  complete  loss,  while  Mr.  Nelson 
returned  to  Fort  Wayne  and  went  into  the  con- 
tracting business.  He  built  roads,  bridges,  and 
buildings.  A  large  part  of  the  Southern  Illinois 
penitentiary  at  Chester  was  his  work.  He  was  the 
instigator  of  the  first  good-roads  law  passed  in 
Indiana  and  built  the  first  piece  of  road  under  that 
law.  He  introduced  to  Indiana  the  Nicholson  pave- 
ment for  city  streets. 

From  this  period  dated  his  intense  interest  in 
good  roads  and  good  bridges,  to  which  his  news- 
paper was  devoted  in  after  years. 

Indiana  was  famous  then,  as  now,  for  politics. 
He  was  attracted  into  the  game  because  it  was  a 
game,  and  because  every  form  of  social  activity 
appealed  to  him.  Samuel  J.  Tilden  was  the  man 
who  opened  his  eyes  to  the  fact  that  politics  was 
more  than  a  sport ;  that  it  could  be  made  the  means 
of  achieving  for  the  common  good.  On  one  of  his 
visits  to  New  York  he  called  on  the  Democratic 
leader,  and  the  acquaintanceship  then  begun  re- 
sulted in  his  becoming  the  manager  for  Indiana  of 


12         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

Tilden's  candidacy  for  the  presidential  nomination, 
on  the  ground,  as  he  used  to  say,  that  he  was  the 
only  Indiana  Democrat  who  was  not  himself  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency.  At  first  it  had  been 
Tilden's  courage  in  fighting  the  Tweed  Ring  that 
had  attracted  him.  But  through  their  association 
he  caught  the  spirit  of  the  constructive  statesman. 
One  of  his  distinct  recollections  was  of  Tilden  re- 
marking as  he  walked  up  and  down  the  library  at 
Gramercy  Park :  "  While  it  is  a  great  thing  to 
lead  armies,  it  is  a  greater  thing  to  lead  the  minds 
of  men." 

Tilden  became  one  of  his  heroes.  His  confi- 
dence in  the  judicial  system  suffered  a  profound 
shock  when  the  Supreme  Court  justices  on  the 
Electoral  Commission  decided  for  Hayes  by  a 
party  vote,  and  the  failure  of  the  Democratic 
Party  in  1880  to  renominate  Tilden  caused 
him  definitely  to  break  with  the  Democratic 
organization  and  to  become  an  independent  — 
though  not  a  neutral  —  in  politics.  In  the  cam- 
paign in  1904  for  the  nomination  of  Joseph  W. 
Folk  as  Democratic  candidate  for  Governor  of 
Missouri,  he  made  the  Tilden  biography  virtually 
The  Star's  campaign  text-book,  and  over  his  desk 


ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  YEARS        13 

to  the  very  last  hung  Tilden's  portrait  with  those 
of  Cleveland  and  Roosevelt. 

His  interest  in  politics  never  interfered  with  the 
vigorous  prosecution  of  his  business,  and  by  the  time 
he  was  thirty-five  years  old  he  had  accumulated 
some  two  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Then  suddenly 
nearly  his  entire  accumulation  was  swept  away. 
Throughout  the  years  after  the  failure  of  his  cotton- 
growing  enterprise  in  Georgia  his  partner  in  Sa- 
vannah had  stayed  in  charge  of  the  remnants  of  the 
business  there,  which  had  in  it  some  promise  of 
future  success.  Mr.  Nelson  had  indorsed  a  great 
deal  of  paper  for  him,  and  had  become  responsible 
for  many  of  his  obligations.  The  partner  failed, 
and  his  failure  ruined  Mr.  Nelson  financially. 

Many  years  later  a  friend  asked  him  about  his 
feeling  when  he  learned  that  he  was  ruined  finan- 
cially through  no  fault  of  his  own. 

"Lack  of  self-confidence,"  he  replied,  "was 
never  one  of  my  failings.  I  don't  suppose  I  ever 
lost  a  minute's  sleep  over  the  affair.  I  knew  I  was 
going  to  win  in  the  end." 

This  incident  was  the  turning-point  of  his  career. 
All  he  saved  from  the  wreck  was  an  interest  in 
the  Sentinel  of  Fort  Wayne.    He  had  invested  in 


i4         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

that  newspaper,  which  his  father  had  once  owned, 
while  he  was  managing  the  Tilden  campaign.  The 
possibilities  of  moving  men  in  the  mass  through 
the  medium  of  journalism  appealed  powerfully  to 
him.  He  saw  in  the  newspaper  an  instrument  which 
promised  far  greater  opportunity  for  achievement 
than  a  political  party.  To  this  new  work  he  turned 
with  enthusiasm.  Experience  for  a  year  or  two  as 
manager  of  the  Fort  Wayne  paper  convinced  him 
that  he  had  found  his  calling  and  that  he  needed 
a  wider  field  than  was  offered  in  the  small  Indiana 
city. 


CHAPTER   II 

FOUNDING    AND    GROWTH    OF    THE   KANSAS 
CITY    STAR 

It  was  not  chance  that  impelled  Mr.  Nelson  in 
1880  to  sell  his  interest  in  the  Sentinel  of  Fort 
Wayne  and  go  to  Kansas  City.  Before  settling 
down  in  the  rough-hewn  town  that  Kansas  City  was 
then,  he  scrutinized  the  whole  wide  Western  field 
from  St.  Louis  to  San  Francisco,  and  also  some  cities 
in  the  East,  with  an  estimating  and  prophetic  eye. 
His  choice  of  a  place  in  which  to  locate  narrowed 
down  to  three  cities,  Brooklyn,  St.  Louis  and  Kansas 
City,  Missouri.  He  then  weighed  the  advantages 
and  the  future,  as  he  saw  it,  of  those  three  cities, 
and  cast  his  lot  with  Kansas  City  as  confidently 
as  if  there  had  been  no  rival  cities  in  the  contest 
for  future  greatness  in  the  Great  West.  The  wis- 
dom of  that  decision  never  fluttered  in  a  moment's 
doubt  in  the  years  that  followed. 

Samuel  E.  Morss  was  the  partner  of  Mr.  Nelson 
in  the  Fort  Wayne  Sentinel,  and  he  was  his  partner 
also  in  the  founding  of  The  Star,  the  first  issue  of 


16         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

which  appeared  as  The  Kansas  City  Evening  Star, 
September  1 8,  1 880.  It  was  a  paper  of  four  small 
pages  of  six  narrow  columns  each. 

The  following  extract  is  from  an  editorial  in  that 
first  issue,  the  first  editorial  ever  written  for  The 
Starl- 
it is  the  commercial  center  of  the  great  Missouri 
Valley,  and  no  city  in  the  country  contains  within 
itself  greater  possibilities  or  offers  brighter  pros- 
pects for  the  future.  No  city  in  the  land  is  grow- 
ing more  rapidly  or  attracting  more  attention  in  all 
quarters.  It  is  universally  conceded  that  Kansas  City, 
in  a  very  few  years,  will  be  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  important  cities  in  America.  Having  entire 
confidence  in  the  future  of  this  city,  The  Evening 
Star  enters  the  field  without  a  doubt  that  it  will 
achieve  unqualified  success  and  in  a  very  short  time 
become  one  of  the  recognized  institutions  of  Kansas 
City. 

The  health  of  Mr.  Morss  failed  in  the  first  year 
in  Kansas  City,  and  he  was  compelled  to  retire  from 
active  work  and  devote  several  years  to  physical 
restoration.  Mr.  Nelson  became  sole  owner  and 
editor  of  The  Star.  Mr.  Morss  was  consul-general 
to  Paris  during  President  Cleveland's  second  ad- 
ministration and  returned  to  Indiana  and  became 


.  ^//.jf,  /./.,f/r  /■/  .  ^A,   ■  0</  >,.><■.,  f /'///  ■  UtU 


THE  KANSAS  CITY  STAR  17 

owner  and  editor  of  the  Indianapolis  Sentinel.  A 
warm  friendship  existed  between  him  and  Mr.  Nel- 
son and  continued  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Morss. 

The  year  1880  was  a  good  one  for  the  coming 
of  a  paper  that  meant  to  "become  a  recognized 
institution  of  Kansas  City"  and  have  an  active  part 
in  the  development  of  the  town.  The  impulse  to 
civic  and  commercial  greatness  had  thrilled  the 
community  and  quickened  its  ambition.  But  there 
was  little  in  the  city  to  attract  except  the  energy 
of  the  people  and  the  golden  glow  of  the  future. 

Kansas  City  was  then  the  muddiest  town  in  the 
wide,  wet  world.  There  were  no  pavements  and 
only  a  few  plank  sidewalks.  A  few  street-cars 
bobbed  along  behind  tired  mules.  The  Kaw  River 
furnished  the  city  water.  Grace  or  beauty  or  utility 
did  not  exist.  Everything  was  yet  to  be  done 
to  make  the  town  into  a  great  and  beautiful  city, 
"  a  good  place  to  live  in." 

The  people  of  the  raw  town  of  the  new  West 
welcomed  the  newspaper  cordially,  the  papers  al- 
ready established  patted  the  journalistic  baby  on  the 
head  kindly  and  called  it  the  Twilight  Twinkler, 
and  so  The  Star  began  to  shine  from  its  first  little 
offices,  upstairs,  at  407  and  409  Delaware  Street. 


18         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

The  price  of  the  paper  then  was  two  cents  a 
copy.  The  price  of  the  other  papers  was  five  cents. 
There  were  very  few  pennies  in  circulation  in  the 
West  then ;  a  nickel  was  the  smallest  coin  in  gen- 
eral use,  and  it  was  difficult  for  newsboys  to  get 
hold  of  enough  pennies  to  make  change.  So  Mr. 
Nelson  brought  to  town  a  keg  of  cent  pieces 
bright  from  the  mint,  and  the  newsboys  were  pro- 
vided for. 

The  paper  had  a  good  circulation  from  the  start. 
At  the  end  of  its  first  month  The  Star  announced 
that  it  had  "  a  great  many  more  readers  in  Kansas 
City  than  any  other  newspaper  published  here." 

But  that  very  increase  in  circulation  made  the 
problems  of  its  publication  more  difficult,  because, 
as  subscribers  increased,  cost  of  printing  went  up, 
and  the  income  from  advertising  did  not  keep  pace 
with  expense.  The  new  paper  was  pushed  to 
make  both  ends  meet. 

The  small  capital  brought  to  Kansas  City  by 
Mr.  Nelson  soon  melted  away.  Then  he  had  to 
borrow  from  his  friends  back  in  Indiana,  where  he 
had  established  a  good  credit.  Without  this  credit, 
he  said,  in  after  years,  he  must  have  failed.  But 
he  never  lost  confidence.    He  felt  from  the  outset 


THE  KANSAS  CITY  STAR  19 

that  he  would  succeed  if  he  could  keep  his  cred- 
itors from  "  sawing  his  legs  off,"  as  he  put  it,  be- 
fore he  had  had  a  fair  chance.  The  struggle  lasted 
four  years. 

The  thing  he  most  needed  was  a  press  with 
capacity  sufficient  to  print  quickly  the  copies  de- 
manded by  the  circulation.  The  old  press  with 
which  he  started  was  incapable  of  doing  it.  It  was 
strained  to  its  utmost  every  day,  and  still  it  fell 
short  of  the  demand. 

And  then  one  day  the  agent  for  the  Potter  per- 
fecting press  came  to  town.  Under  the  spur  of  his 
presence,  Mr.  Nelson  laid  his  problem  before 
Colonel  Kersey  Coates,  at  that  time  the  town's 
most  progressive  and  far-seeing  citizen,  and  Coates 
helped  him  to  borrow  at  a  bank  the  five  thousand 
dollars  necessary  to  make  the  first  payment.  The 
press  was  installed  September  18,  1884,  the  fourth 
anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  paper.  That 
day  marked  the  beginning  of  The  Star's  larger 
success. 

The  Coates  incident  was  notable  because  it  fol- 
lowed a  period  of  bitter  enmity  on  the  part  of 
that  fiery  pioneer.  When  The  Star  began  publica- 
tion, Colonel  Coates  owned  the  town  opera  house. 


20         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

It  was  a  large  hall  on  the  second  floor  of  a  poorly- 
constructed  building,  without  proper  exits.  The 
new  editor  felt  it  was  a  public  menace,  and  said  so  in 
his  newspaper.  Colonel  Coates  flared  up  and  publicly 
denounced  him  as  a  blackmailer.  But  he  soon  came 
to  see  that  the  young  man  from  Indiana  was  right. 
He  went  to  The  Star  office  and  apologized.  "I 
am  going  to  reconstruct  my  opera  house,"  he  told 
Mr.  Nelson.  "The  town  needs  such  a  newspaper 
as  yours,  and  if  you  ever  need  help,  come  to  me." 
That  invitation  he  fulfilled  in  helping  in  the  pur- 
chase of  the  perfecting  press. 

The  Star  gained  in  circulation  and  business 
every  year  after  its  first  new  press  was  installed, 
but  years  went  by  before  the  owner  took  any  of 
the  profits  out.  He  put  them  back  into  the  paper, 
enlarging  it  and  improving  it  all  the  time,  on  the 
theory  that  a  newspaper  owed  all  to  its  readers 
that  it  could  possibly  give. 

At  first  The  Star  had  no  Associated  Press  fran- 
chise and  had  difficulty  in  getting  telegraph  news 
service.  But  in  1882,  with  borrowed  money,  he 
bought  The  Mail,  a  small  paper  with  an  Asso- 
ciated Press  franchise,  and  thus  The  Star  obtained 
the  telegraph  news  service  it  so  much  needed. 


THE  KANSAS  CITY  STAR  21 

In  1889  The  Star  moved  to  a  new  building 
erected  especially  for  it  at  804-06  Wyandotte 
Street.  Here  it  had  two  new  Potter  presses,  capa- 
ble of  printing  twenty-four  thousand  papers  of 
eight  pages  an  hour,  and  the  wheels  of  progress 
began  to  move  faster.  For  five  years  this  rented 
building  was  satisfactory,  but  in  1894  The  Star 
again  moved  to  a  new  home  at  the  northeast  cor- 
ner of  Eleventh  Street  and  Grand  Avenue.  This 
was  at  that  time  one  of  the  finest  newspaper 
buildings  in  the  country,  and  Mr.  Nelson  believed  it 
would  prove  commodious  enough  for  many  years. 
The  printing  equipment  there  consisted  of  three 
quadruple  presses  capable  of  issuing  sixty  thou- 
sand sixteen-page  papers  an  hour.  This  soon  be- 
came inadequate  and  the  capacity  was  doubled  by 
adding  one  more  quadruple  and  one  octuple 
press.  In  1911  The  Star  again  moved  to  a  new 
office  between  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth 
Streets,  occupying  the  width  of  a  whole  block  be- 
tween Grand  Avenue  and  McGee  Street.  Here 
The  Star  had  six  sextuple  presses  with  a  com- 
bined capacity  of  printing  four  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  papers  of  twelve  pages  an  hour.  Within 
two  years  those  six  presses  were  converted  into 


22         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

octuples,  capable  of  printing  four  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  sixteen-page  papers  an  hour. 
More  space  was  provided  in  this  office  than  is  in 
any  other  office  in  the  world,  and  the  builder 
hoped  it  would  house  the  paper  for  at  least  half 
a  century. 

The  first  Sunday  edition  of  The  Star  was  issued 
April  29,  1894.  The  morning  Times  was  ab- 
sorbed and  its  first  issue  appeared  as  the  morning 
edition  of  The  Star  November  18,  1901. 

The  subscription  price  of  The  Star  was  never 
increased.  It  was  ten  cents  a  week,  delivered  by 
carrier,  in  its  first  years,  when  it  issued  a  four- 
page  paper  each  week-day  afternoon,  and  it  was 
ten  cents  a  week,  delivered  by  carrier,  when  it  gave 
thirteen  papers  a  week,  morning,  evening,  and 
Sunday. 

The  Weekly  Kansas  City  Star  was  founded 
by  Mr.  Nelson  March  6,  1890,  an  eight-page 
paper  for  farmers  at  a  subscription  price  of  twenty- 
five  cents  a  year.  Its  circulation  grew  steadily 
until  it  had  reached  three  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand at  the  time  of  Mr.  Nelson's  death.  It  went 
into  every  State  of  this  Union  and  to  many  for- 
eign countries. 


THE  KANSAS  CITY  STAR  23 

In  the  early  years  of  struggle  to  place  his  news- 
paper upon  a  firm  foundation,  and  in  the  years  of 
success  and  prosperity  which  followed,  Mr.  Nel- 
son was  encouraged  and  sustained  by  his  wife, 
whom  he  married  November  29,  1881,  a  little 
more  than  a  year  after  he  founded  The  Star.  She 
was  Ida  Houston,  daughter  of  Robert  Houston  of 
Champaign,  Illinois.  A  daughter,  Laura,  was  born 
to  them,  who  became  the  wife  of  Irwin  R.  Kirk- 
wood  of  Kansas  City. 


CHAPTER   III 

PULLING    A    CITY    OUT    OF    THE    MUD 

In  the  first  issue  of  his  paper  Mr.  Nelson  said  edi- 
torially :  — 

The  Evening  Star  will  kbor  with  especial  zeal 
and  earnestness  in  behalf  of  all  measures  tending  to 
advance  the  interests  of  Kansas  City  and  develop 
the  resources  of  the  great  Missouri  Valley. 

These  interests  and  resources  he  first  visualized 
as  good  streets  and  good  roads.  As  he  expressed 
the  idea  editorially:  — 

The  city  is  its  streets;  the  country  is  its  roads; 
the  Nation  is  its  highways  of  rail  and  water.  Civili- 
zation follows  no  dim  forest  trail;  that  is  always 
the  savage's  route.  Civilization  treads  established 
thoroughfares.  Everything  depends  upon  accessi- 
bility, and  in  human  intercourse  accessibility  means 
pathways,  roads,  streets.  Markets  are  beggared 
when  buyer  and  seller  cannot  meet.  Education 
languishes  when  mud  blockades  the  road  to  the 
little  red  schoolhouse.  Literature  must  have  circu- 
lation, or  be  impotent.  Art  cannot  ennoble  or  uplift 
or  delight  the  multitude  it  cannot  reach. 

Continual,  perpetual,  is  the  demand  upon  the 


PULLING  A  CITY  OUT  OF  THE  MUD    25 

streets,  the  roads,  the  thoroughfares.  Great  as  was 
the  greatest  of  the  Caesars,  greatest  was  he  as  a  road 
builder. 

It  was  inevitable  that  the  newspaper  founded  by 
Mr.  Nelson,  which  was  intended  to  enter  into  the 
everyday  life  of  the  community  that  sustained  it,  and 
was  to  be  concerned  in  everything  that  affected  the 
welfare  of  this  community,  would  find  the  streets 
a  theme  for  frequent  discourse ;  the  streets  and  their 
suburban  connections,  the  country  roads ;  and  their 
transcontinental  cousins,  the  railways. 

He  came  quickly  to  the  conclusion  that  the  first 
thing  essential  to  the  city's  progress  was  travers- 
able streets.  The  foot  that  was  to  make  the  next 
"  giant  stride  forward  "  must  first  be  pulled  out  of 
the  mud. 

And  there  was  mud  everywhere.  The  site  of 
Kansas  City  was  rough  and  hilly  and  seamed  with 
canyons.  In  the  clearing  away  of  trees  and  brush- 
wood and  the  breaking  of  ground  for  buildings,  the 
red  earth  was  bared  to  rain  and  snow,  and  great 
gullies  were  worn  in  the  slopes,  down  which  mud 
ran  in  streams.  The  streets  were  almost  impassable. 

No  one  seemed  to  care.  The  new  town  was  full 
of  exploiters  trying  to  make  hasty  fortunes  to  carry 


26         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

away  and  spend  in  more  attractive  places.  They 
had  no  intention  of  making  homes  there,  they  had 
no  intention  of  making  a  city.  Their  sole  purpose 
was  to  coin  some  quick  money  out  of  the  town's 
necessities  and  pull  out.  The  attitude  of  these  men 
toward  the  city  is  illustrated  in  a  story  Mr.  Nelson 
related. 

Two  of  the  newcomers  found  themselves  neigh- 
bors in  Main  Street  stores.  Each  had  brought  in 
a  stock  of  goods  and  was  disposing  of  them  at  a 
modest  profit  of  a  couple  of  hundred  per  cent,  with 
a  view  to  catching  the  earliest  train  back  East. 
Standing  on  the  wooden  sidewalk  contemplating  the 
sea  of  mud  in  the  street  the  newest  arrival  said  to 
his  neighbor:  — 

"You  've  got  the  worst  mudhole  of  a  town  here 
I  ever  saw.  Why  don't  you  pave  your  street  ? " 

"Me  pave  it!"  exclaimed  the  other.  "I  don't 
care  if  they  never  pave  it.  I  live  in  Louisville." 

Such  was  the  town  and  such  was  the  feeling  in 
it  when  Mr.  Nelson  made  The  Star  its  cham- 
pion and  started  on  the  task  of  making  it  a  city,  a 
city  with  homes  and  a  citizenship,  a  public  spirit 
and  a  community  feeling. 

And   so  The  Star   was   only   a   few   months 


PULLING  A  CITY  OUT  OF  THE  MUD     27 

old  when  he  published  the  following  plain  state- 
ment of  its  public  policy  upon  roads  and  other 
things,  a  policy  from  which  it  never  swerved :  — 

Individuals  profit  by  judicious  and  liberal  ex- 
penditures of  money.  So  do  cities.  Kansas  City 
has  reached  a  point  when  she  must  make  such 
expenditures  if  she  is  to  occupy  the  proud  position 
which  is  within  her  reach.  The  pinching  economy, 
the  picayunish  policy,  the  miserable  parsimony, 
which  characterize  our  city  government  must  now 
be  abandoned,  or  the  city's  growth  will  be  most 
seriously  retarded  and  her  best  interests  greatly 
crippled. 

Kansas  City  needs  good  streets,  good  sidewalks, 
good  sewers,  decent  public  buildings,  better  street 
lights,  more  fire  protection,  a  more  efficient  police 
force,  and  many  other  things  which  are  necessary 
to  the  health,  prosperity,  and  growth  of  a  great 
city.  She  needs  these  improvements  now.  They 
will  cost  money  and  a  great  deal  of  it.  The 
Evening  Star  is  greatly  mistaken  if  an  over- 
whelming majority  of  the  taxpayers  are  not  per- 
fectly willing  to  spend  the  money,  if  they  have 
any  assurance  that  it  will  be  honestly  and  judi- 
ciously expended. 

To  the  city  streets,  to  roads,  and  to  transpor- 
tation Mr.  Nelson,  in  The  Star,  devoted  more 
space — more  actual  area  of  argument,  protest, 


28         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

information,  and  appeal  —  than  to  any  other  one 
subject.  Street-paving  was  the  first  public  im- 
provement he  advocated,  and  he  dealt  not  in  gen- 
eralities, but  in  facts  and  figures,  and  modern 
instances  and  ancient.  His  first  triumph  as  a  de- 
fender of  the  faith  was  in  preventing  the  gift  of 
the  city's  streets  to  a  transportation  company  that 
had  demonstrated  its  unwillingness  to  furnish  ade- 
quate street-car  service.  The  greatest  municipal 
achievement,  in  which  Mr.  Nelson  aided  —  the 
parks  —  is  inseparable  from  the  interlacing  and 
interlinking  system  of  parkways  and  boulevards  — 
streets  of  superfine  quality,  demonstrating  by  the 
manner  of  their  construction  and  their  systematic 
maintenance  what  intelligent  road-making  might 
mean. 

Upon  the  subject  of  streets  in  all  its  manifold 
phases  he  was  always  busy  through  the  columns 
of  The  Star.  Scientific  construction,  the  grading 
and  draining,  the  proper  width  for  economy  and 
the  correct  crowning,  foundation  and  surface, 
choice  of  materials  as  demonstrated  by  experience 
or  by  test  or  by  limitation  of  expenditure,  gutter- 
ing and  curbing,  sidewalks,  the  adornment  by 
turf  and  by  trees  —  all  of  these  he  studied  and 


THE    KANSAS    CITY  STAR.^bs 


VOL.  33.       NO.  ». 


KANSAS  CITY    iMTtlBEK  X    10ll.-MOV!»; 


an  pages,        pbki 


««  •—  —  A  PROSECUTOR  ON  THE  JOS 


.  7//r  ,  //,///,)f/.t  * '/A/.  //</  /  ///,  //;..    h/jf*//,'*  K^//\///r^ 


PULLING  A  CITY  OUT  OF  THE  MUD     29 

discussed  in  The  Star.  The  effective  care  and 
maintenance  of  the  streets,  the  building  of  bridges 
and  viaducts,  the  lighting  of  the  streets,  the  ob- 
struction of  sidewalks,  the  flushing  of  catch-basins, 
the  projection  of  bill-boards,  the  dripping  dirt 
wagon,  the  reckless  driver  of  wagon  or  motor  car, 
the  proper  guidance  of  traffic,  the  sore-shouldered 
and  overworked  dray  horse,  the  encroaching  push- 
cart, were  details  of  the  mighty  subject  of  streets 
which  he  kept  constantly  before  the  public.  And 
so  were  the  police,  the  street-cars,  the  rules  of  the 
road,  and  public-service  franchises. 

Through  the  years  of  his  editorship  of  The 
Star  he  printed,  it  might  almost  be  said,  miles 
of  argument  in  favor  of  good  roads,  not  only  in 
Jackson  County,  but  in  all  the  Southwest.  He  sent 
members  of  The  Star's  staff  to  good-roads  con- 
ventions; he  sent  out  lecturers  upon  the  subject 
of  good  roads,  organized  good-roads  tours,  helped 
lay  out  cross-state  and  cross-continent  highways, 
had  pamphlets  about  good  roads  printed  by  the 
thousand  for  free  distribution,  sent  men  to  the 
legislature  to  help  draft  and  pass  good-roads  laws, 
and  preached  the  gospel  of  good  roads  and  good 
streets  in  every  conceivable  form  of  argument. 


3o         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

He  knew  the  cost  of  every  form  of  road-build- 
ing and  sought  to  guard  the  public  interests  against 
the  plunderings  of  contractors.  Among  the  hard- 
est fights  carried  on  by  him  were  those  against 
combines  of  road  and  bridge  and  paving  con- 
tractors. 

The  bridges  of  the  adjacent  country  were  shock- 
ingly bad.  He  advocated  permanent  bridges,  and 
the  old  plank  bridge  gave  way  to  the  iron  bridge 
as  the  next  step  of  advancement.  In  the  building 
of  those  iron  bridges  there  developed  a  "graft" 
by  which  flimsy  material  was  used  at  a  price  that 
would  have  given  good  material.  He  entered  upon 
a  campaign  to  stop  this.  He  gave  the  name  of 
"  tin  bridge  "  to  this  class  of  structure,  and  urged 
the  building  of  bridges  of  native  stone  or  concrete, 
with  artistic  treatment.  As  a  lesson  to  the  public 
he  built,  at  his  own  expense,  a  beautiful  arched 
bridge  of  native  stone  over  Brush  Creek,  at  Rock- 
hill  Road,  and  not  far  from  it  he  induced  the  county 
to  build  an  artistic  bridge  of  concrete. 

It  was  a  favorite  phrase  of  his  that  "  transpor- 
tation follows  the  lines  of  least  resistance."  He 
realized  the  effect  that  transportation  lines  have 
upon  the  founding  and  building  of  cities  and  the 


PULLING  A  CITY  OUT  OF  THE  MUD     31 

welfare  and  progress  of  communities,  and  he  used 
the  influence  of  The  Star  to  induce  and  aid  rail- 
roads to  build  to  Kansas  City,  and  he  fought  all 
attempts  to  establish  freight  rates  that  were  too 
high.  When  the  railroads  discriminated  against 
Kansas  City  in  their  freight  tariffs  he  began  the 
campaign  for  the  reestablishment  of  steamboat 
transportation  upon  the  Missouri  River.  Before 
the  days  of  railroads  Kansas  City  was  founded  as 
a  steamboat  landing,  because  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Kaw  River,  where  the  Missouri  bends  sharply  to 
the  north,  was  the  natural  point  of  distribution,  to 
all  the  Southwest,  of  the  freight  that  came  up  the 
river.  At  the  great  bend  were  the  eastern  termini 
of  the  overland  trails,  to  Santa  Fe,  to  the  Pike's 
Peak  region  and  all  the  country  beyond,  to  Cali- 
fornia and  to  Oregon. 

As  a  relief  from  oppressive  and  restrictive  freight 
rates  that  came  later,  when  railroads  had  driven 
the  boats  from  the  river,  he  advocated  the  estab- 
lishment of  river  traffic  again.  The  campaign  re- 
sulted in  the  building  of  the  A.  L.  Mason,  a  large 
steamboat  which  plied  between  Kansas  City  and 
St.  Louis.  When  it  had  accomplished  its  purpose 
of  lowering  rail  rates  the  loyalty  of  merchants  to 


32         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

it  slackened  and  it  was  forced  out  of  the  traffic. 
In  a  few  years  the  rates  became  more  oppressive 
and  Mr.  Nelson  began  another  campaign  for  an- 
other and  permanent  line  of  boats  on  the  Missouri. 
"Navigate  the  river"  became  his  slogan.  He  went 
into  every  phase  of  the  subject  of  water  transpor- 
tation as  an  effective  preventive  of  high  freight 
rates.  He  sent  men  everywhere  to  gather  infor- 
mation. He  preached  the  gospel  of  water  trans- 
portation for  years  before  the  public  became  inter- 
ested enough  to  take  hold.  At  last  the  sentiment 
was  ripe,  a  public  company  was  organized  and  more 
than  one  million  dollars  in  stock  was  subscribed. 
To  this  enterprise  Mr.  Nelson  contributed  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  not  as  a  commercial  proposition, 
but  out  of  loyalty  to  Kansas  City. 

A  line  of  boats  and  barges  was  bought  or  built 
and  put  in  operation.  Its  accomplishments  are  a 
part  of  the  history  of  the  upbuilding  of  Kansas 
City. 

In  the  same  spirit  of  loyalty  to  Kansas  City  he 
advocated  the  building  of  an  adequate  railway  pas- 
senger station  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  out- 
grown and  inadequate  depot.  This  campaign  went 
on  for  a  number  of  years  and  contributed  largely 


PULLING  A  CITY  OUT  OF  THE  MUD    33 

toward  the  building  of  a  magnificent  Union  Station 
which  cost  six  million  dollars,  and  of  a  terminal 
system  sufficient  to  care  for  the  traffic  of  the 
growing  city,  the  whole  costing  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  fifty  million  dollars. 


CHAPTER    IV 

PARKS    AND    BOULEVARDS 

When  William  R.  Nelson  went  to  Kansas  City 
with  his  daring  idea  of  a  two-cent  newspaper  the 
young  city  had  a  population  that  was  approaching 
sixty  thousand.  The  people  had  faith  in  the  vision 
that  upon  the  Missouri  bluffs  was  to  be  built  an  im- 
portant city,  but  few  of  them  even  glimpsed  the 
greatness  to  which  that  city  would  grow  within  a 
few  years.  Mr.  Nelson  was  one  of  those  who  did 
see  it,  and  he  began  to  plan  for  it  with  sure  fore- 
sight. 

Almost  everybody  in  Kansas  City  had  come 
from  the  country  or  from  smaller  towns,  and  every- 
thing in  this  new  town  of  the  West,  which  had 
sprung  up  almost  overnight,  was  so  much  bigger 
and  better  than  the  bulk  of  the  population  had  been 
accustomed  to  that  the  idea  of  making  the  town 
better  and  beautiful  did  not  appeal  to  them. 

What  was  a  city,  anyway,  but  a  chaos  of  ugly 
brick  buildings  and  factory  chimneys  belching 
black  smoke? 


PARKS  AND  BOULEVARDS  35 

But  Mr.  Nelson  visioned  a  mighty  city  and  a 
city  beautiful.  He  was  probably  the  only  man  in 
Kansas  City  who  saw  that  the  bluffs  and  hills  and 
ravines  had  elements  of  real  beauty,  and  he  went 
to  work  on  the  task  of  developing  the  city  for  the 
millions  who  were  later  to  live  in  it. 

May  19,  1881,  when  The  Star  was  only  eight 
months  old,  he  began  the  long,  long  struggle  for 
public  parks,  which  finally,  after  many  reverses 
and  delays,  triumphed  splendidly.  Upon  that  day, 
in  concluding  an  editorial  upon  the  subject,  he 
said :  — 

The  officials  may  dodge  the  issue  and  seek  to 
excuse  themselves  by  saying  the  new  city  charter 
prohibits  the  expenditure  of  money  for  any  such 
purpose.  This,  however,  will  not  strictly  satisfy 
the  people  nor  condone  official  negligence  in  this 
matter,  as  special  legislation  could  easily  be  had, 
provided  there  was  an  earnest  movement  for  the 
purpose. 

That  was  the  beginning  of  a  campaign  that  con- 
tinued for  fifteen  years  before  Kansas  City,  with 
soul  uplifted,  sat  in  joy  upon  its  first  park  bench. 
The  people  of  Kansas  City  who  read  The  Star — 
and  that  included  virtually  the  whole  population — 
had  parks  and  boulevards  for  dinner  every  night. 


36         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

In  speaking  in  later  days  of  that  struggle  he 
said :  — 

The  most  stubborn  obstacle  to  the  progress  of 
a  growing  city  is  lack  of  foresight — the  inability 
to  comprehend  the  needs  of  the  future.  Stagnation, 
obstruction,  and  opposition  are  its  fruits,  and  the 
only  way  to  overcome  it  is  by  ceaseless  effort.  In 
The  Star's  endeavor  as  advocate  for  the  people  of 
Kansas  City  the  thing  that  withstood  siege  longest 
has  been  this  lack  of  understanding  of  the  innate 
greatness  of  Kansas  City  and  of  the  certainty  of  its 
development.  That  it  was  which,  by  refusing  a 
competitive  street-railway  franchise  and  attempt- 
ing to  endow  the  miserable  lines  existing  in  1884 
with  a  thirty-year  lease  of  life,  would  have  made 
cable  lines  and  the  later  use  of  electricity  impossible. 
Neither  company  nor  council  could  imagine  the 
Kansas  City  of  twenty  years  later.  The  same  de- 
fective vision  caused  the  attempt  to  manacle  the 
city  with  a  high-priced,  small-supply  gas  franchise 
in  1895.  Of  all  the  measures  for  which  The  Star 
labored,  the  one  most  despairingly  blocked  by  this 
spirit  of  benighted  non-comprehension  was  the 
project  of  parks. 

Mr.  Nelson  entered  upon  the  campaign  for  parks 
in  no  haphazard  way.  He  obtained  all  the  available 
details  and  particulars  of  park  acquisition  and  main- 
tenance in  other  cities.    He  devised  plans  of  pro- 


PARKS  AND  BOULEVARDS  37 

cedure  and  methods  of  attaining  the  best  for  the 
greatest  number  in  the  character  and  location  of 
the  pleasure  grounds.  The  apportionment  of  cost 
and  the  manner  of  payment  were  inexhaustible 
themes. 

Leading  citizens,  including  Judge  J.  K.  Cravens, 
Frank  Faxon,  A.  R.  Meyer,  and  Robert  Gillham, 
were  converted  to  the  cause  and  enlisted  in  it. 
Engineers  were  employed  by  Mr.  Nelson  to  make 
studies  of  parkways  and  boulevards  and  to  secure 
practical  information  about  their  construction.  He 
had  a  park  law  drafted  and  backed  it  to  the  point 
where  the  State  Supreme  Court  poked  a  potent  foot 
through  it ;  undaunted,  he  went  immediately  to  work 
upon  another  which  should  be  less  attractive  to  the 
Supreme  Court  toe.  Every  argument  was  pre- 
sented in  every  conceivable  form,  over  and  over 
and  yet  over  again. 

After  a  few  years  of  this  ceaseless  agitation  it 
began  to  dawn  upon  a  certain  element  of  the 
community  that  The  Star's  argument  was  not 
mere  prattle,  but  the  precursor  of  facts  and  action. 
That  "  certain  element "  was  largely  composed  of 
wealthy  landowners  —  men  made  rich  in  spite  of 
themselves  by  the  increased  value  of  their  farms 


38         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

as  the  city  overflowed  upon  and  around  them.  The 
proposal  to  provide  lawns  and  woods  and  mead- 
ows and  playgrounds  and  flower  gardens  for  the 
people  met  with  no  approval  from  those  gentle- 
men, amply  endowed  as  they  were  with  woods 
and  meadows  of  their  own,  if  not  with  play- 
grounds and  flower  gardens.  A  surprisingly  large 
number  of  them  came  out  of  the  tall  grass,  where 
they  had  been  eluding  public  notice  and  subscrip- 
tion lists,  and  with  great  energy  began  throwing 
brickbats  at  Mr.  Nelson  and  The  Star. 

A  movement  to  oppose  city  beautification  was 
organized.  Public  meetings  were  held  and  orators 
engaged  to  attack  the  man  who  was  regarded  as 
responsible  for  the  extravagance.  In  the  fight 
were  enlisted  many  home-owners  who  really  be- 
lieved that  the  building  of  these  improvements 
would  entail  an  expense  that  would  sweep  away 
their  homes  and  ruin  them.  "Confiscation"  and 
"robbery"  became  their  watchwords. 

"  What  do  we  want  of  breathing-spaces  when 
half  the  town  is  vacant  lots !  "  exclaimed  the  anti- 
park  orators. 

People  who  had  burned  them  for  fire- wood  could 
see  no  glory  in  trees.    They  ridiculed  in  every 


PARKS  AND  BOULEVARDS  39 

conceivable  way  the  "Baron,"  as  they  dubbed 
Mr.  Nelson,  who  saw  beauty  in  trees  and  flowers 
and  parks  and  shady  driveways. 

The  Star  was  very  considerate  of  those  enemies 
of  parks.  In  fancy  it  organized  them  into  a  "  Ham- 
mer and  Padlock  Club,"  the  suggested  symbolism 
being  a  hammer  wherewith  to  beat  the  life  out 
of  all  public  improvement  projects,  and  a  padlock 
with  which  to  protect  the  pocketbook  from  inva- 
sion. The  Star  invented  amusing  orations  for  them 
and  devised  many  a  merry  quip  and  laughable 
cartoon  for  their  entertainment. 

The  spirit  of  progress  finally  won.  A  compre- 
hensive scheme,  proposed  by  the  first  park  board 
under  the  courageous  presidency  of  A.  R.  Meyer, 
was  adopted.  Gradually  the  town  saw  the  new 
Vision,  and  Kansas  City's  superb  system  of  parks 
and  boulevards,  with  the  noblest  park  of  all,  the 
gift  of  Thomas  H.  Swope,  soon  became  a  reality, 
and  those  who  had  been  objectors  became  the 
champions  of  parks. 

Long  before  there  was  a  park  law  or  a  park 
system  in  Kansas  City,  Mr.  Nelson  undertook  to 
make  Warwick  Boulevard  an  object  lesson  to  the 
people.  Along  it  he  planted  elm  trees,  which  his 


4o         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

studies  had  convinced  him  were  the  best  shade 
trees  for  Kansas  City. 

After  his  death,  one  of  the  moving  letters  that 
came  to  The  Star  was  from  a  woman  living  on 
that  street  who  wrote  that  for  her  the  monument 
to  his  memory  was  the  great  elm  tree  of  his 
planting  that  stood  before  her  door. 

Before  arriving  at  the  conclusion  that  the  elm 
tree  was  best,  Mr.  Nelson  had  made  a  study  of 
the  merits  of  other  kinds  of  trees.  In  particular 
he  experimented  with  the  broad-leafed  laurel,  to 
see  whether  it  would  grow  in  Kansas  City.  He 
had  his  own  nurseries  in  which  trees  were  planted 
and  their  growth  carefully  noted.  He  studied  the 
methods  of  transplanting  trees  so  that  Kansas  City 
might  not  have  to  wait  for  trees  to  grow  along  its 
boulevards,  but  might  have  them  planted  there 
full  grown  for  the  benefit  of  the  generation  al- 
ready on  earth. 

He  studied  grasses  and  sods  with  the  same  ex- 
haustive care,  to  determine  which  kind  was  best 
for  the  ornamentation  of  grass  plots  between  pave- 
ments, and  his  researches  into  the  best  kinds  of 
flowers  and  shrubs  for  street  and  park  ornamenta- 
tion covered  that  subject  in  all  its  ramifications. 


PARKS  AND  BOULEVARDS  41 

He  imported  squirrels  from  adjoining  States  and 
turned  them  loose  in  the  parks  to  add  to  their 
attractiveness  and  to  ruralize  them. 

His  interest  in  parks  was  not  confined  to  Kan- 
sas City.  He  held  that  if  parks  were  good  for 
that  city  they  were  good  for  every  city  and  for 
every  town.  He  had  pamphlets  printed  showing 
the  advantages  of  parks  for  small  towns,  and  sent 
them  out  by  thousands.  If  he  learned  of  a  town 
that  was  talking  of  getting  a  park,  he  would  send 
a  member  of  his  staff  there  to  encourage  the  peo- 
ple and  to  stir  up  their  civic  pride  by  writing  in 
The  Star  about  it.  The  gospel  of  parks  spread 
into  all  the  country  roundabout,  and  even  to  West- 
ern cities  larger  than  Kansas  City. 

After  the  parks  and  boulevards  in  Kansas  City 
had  been  acquired  and  built,  the  people  soon 
realized  that  they  were  one  of  the  city's  greatest 
assets,  and  this  feeling  was  expressed  by  the  Com- 
mercial Club  of  Kansas  City,  the  day  after  the 
death  of  Mr.  Nelson,  when  it  paraphrased  the 
tribute  to  the  Roman  emperor :  — 

"  He  found  his  city  mud  and  left  it  marble." 


CHAPTER  V 

IN  THE  CAUSE  OF  GOOD  GOVERNMENT 

The  Star  began  with  one  standard — public  serv- 
ice. Everything  was  secondary  to  that.  From  its 
first  issue  Mr.  Nelson  used  The  Star  to  serve 
Kansas  City  with  all  his  might,  and  in  no  way 
was  this  more  effectively  done  than  in  his  con- 
tinuous fight,  through  thirty-five  years,  in  the 
cause  of  good  government  for  City,  County,  State 
and  Nation. 

The  first  city  election  in  the  experience  of  The 
Star  came  in  the  spring  of  1881,  seven  months 
after  its  founding.  March  1  o,  of  that  year,  under 
the  caption  "The  City  Election,"  The  Star  said: — 

The  Star  has  no  axe  to  grind,  no  candidate  to 
elect,  no  party  to  serve.  Its  only  interest  is  in 
the  growth  and  prosperity  of  Kansas  City  and  the 
proper  administration  of  the  city  government.  It 
is  for  the  best  men,  entirely  regardless  of  party. 
It  is,  however,  forced  to  admit  that  most  of  the 
men  who  are  seeking  nominations  from  both  par- 
ties are  utterly  unfit  for  the  positions  to  which 
they  aspire.  Briefless  barristers,  to  whom  no  sane 


K> 


I 


_<* 


• ;  -. :       ■ 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOOD  GOVERNMENT    43 

man  would  intrust  a  lawsuit  involving  five  dollars, 
want  to  be  city  attorney.  Irresponsible  and  in- 
capable men,  whom  no  one  would  think  of  select- 
ing for  cashier  or  bookkeeper,  ask  for  the  city 
treasurer  ship.  Ignorant  peddlers  of  whisky  aspire 
to  the  city  council.  Such  of  these  men  who  seek 
nominations  may  expect  that  The  Star  will  tell 
the  truth  about  them.  The  voters  of  the  city  have 
a  right  to  know  all  the  facts  as  to  the  character 
and  capacity  of  those  who  ask  their  suffrage.  These 
they  cannot  find  in  their  party  organs. 

Nowhere  was  electoral  dishonesty  and  outrage 
more  flagrant  and  obvious  than  in  Kansas  City  in 
the  years  following  the  founding  of  The  Star. 
These  culminated  in  1892-94  in  a  series  of  whole- 
sale and  daring  frauds.  Politics  in  both  the  city 
and  county  was  dominated  by  a  criminal  gang,  as- 
sured of  immunity  from  punishment.  Public  offi- 
cers charged  with  the  enforcement  of  the  law  were 
in  visible  alliance  with  lawbreakers.  Protected 
gambling  was  notorious.  The  fee  system  was  in 
full  force  and  was  used  for  the  wholesale  black- 
mailing of  members  of  the  underworld.  Elections 
were  in  charge  of  men  who  were  absolute  tools  of 
the  gang.  False  registrations  were  by  thousands, 
and  the  names  of  more  than  a  thousand  well-known 


44         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

citizens  were  stricken  off  the  poll-books  and  they 
were  refused  the  right  to  vote.  Men  were  beaten 
and  thrown  out  of  poll-booths.  Rowdies  intimi- 
dated voters  and  kept  them  from  the  polls.  It  was 
often  dangerous  for  a  man  to  attempt  to  cast  a 
vote  in  opposition  to  the  nominees  of  the  gang  in 
control. 

The  frauds  of  the  election  of  1894  were  worse 
than  all  that  had  gone  before,  but  so  effective  had 
been  the  work  of  The  Star  in  denouncing  and  ex- 
posing the  election  crooks  that  the  city  and  county 
were  aroused,  and  in  spite  of  all  the  fraud  the 
gang  ticket  was  beaten  at  the  polls.  But  the  gang 
sought  to  put  its  men  into  office  by  forgery  of  the 
election  returns  after  the  whole  city  knew  they 
were  beaten. 

The  Star  called  for  an  indignation  meeting  of 
honest  citizens.  A  prosecution  fund  was  raised  and 
a  committee  of  safety  was  chosen  and  twenty-one 
indictments  for  election  frauds  were  returned. 
Twelve  of  the  indicted  men  fled ;  one  committed 
suicide. 

By  offering  rewards  for  the  arrest  and  convic- 
tion of  election  crooks,  by  employing  detectives 
on  election  day,  and  finally  by  appeals  to  the  legis- 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  45 

lature  for  better  election  laws,  Mr.  Nelson  con- 
tinued this  campaign  unremittingly  the  rest  of  his 
life.  In  his  last  illness  he  specified  it  as  the  big 
piece  of  unfinished  business  which  The  Star  had 
on  hand. 

His  fundamental  democracy  made  him  the  ear- 
nest supporter  of  movements  to  increase  the  con- 
trol of  the  people  over  their  government — the 
direct  primary,  popular  election  of  senators,  the 
initiative,  referendum,  and  recall  and  the  commis- 
sion form  of  government.  In  one  of  his  letters  of 
instruction  to  the  staff,  for  instance,  he  expressed 
his  views  in  this  fashion :  — 

The  Initiative,  the  Referendum,  and  the  Recall 
need  frighten  nobody  who  is  on  the  square.  If  a 
man  in  office  or  in  politics  opposes  them,  he  either 
misunderstands  them,  or  he  thinks  he  has  cause 
for  fear  of  their  operation. 

Public  expenditures  should  be  made  with  the  ut- 
most care  and  with  all  the  publicity  and  formality 
necessary  to  insure  fair  competition  and  expert 
supervision.  To  waste  or  misapply  funds  in- 
trusted to  an  officer  chosen  by  the  people  to  get 
their  money's  worth  for  them  is  a  peculiarly  con- 
temptible sort  of  robbery.  It  is  no  less  than  tak- 
ing advantage  of  a  situation  of  unusual  safety  to 
pick  the  pockets  of  taxpayers  most  of  whom  can 


46         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

afford  no  wastefulness  in  their  expenditures,  and  to 
deprive  all  the  people,  especially  the  poor,  of  the 
service  which  the  community  funds  are  intended 
to  provide  for  them.  The  grafter  is  not  a  hero,  no 
matter  how  prosperous  he  may  be,  or  how  influ- 
ential in  politics. 

Commission  Government.  Responsibility  and  con- 
centrated authority  are  as  essential  to  the  manage- 
ment of  a  city  as  to  the  successful  conduct  of  any 
other  business.  City  government  is  business  and 
nobody  is  interested  in  continuing  the  pretense 
that  it  is  politics,  except  those  who  intend  to  make 
money  out  of  it. 

Mr.  Nelson's  interest  in  good  government  for 
cities  was  not  confined  to  Kansas  City.  He  took  a 
personal  interest  in  working  for  good  municipal 
government  in  the  fullest  possible  development  of 
the  municipal  life  of  every  city  in  Kansas  and  Mis- 
souri. Not  only  did  he  use  the  columns  of  The 
Star  daily  to  bring  about  this  result,  but  he  insisted 
on  paying  the  expenses  of  his  reporters  who  went 
out  upon  invitation  from  different  cities  to  speak 
on  the  subject  of  commission  government  or  upon 
other  features  of  municipal  life. 

"You  must  remember,"  he  would  say  to  the 
men  engaged  in  such  work,  "that  a  reporter  has 
something  to  do  besides  sitting  at  a  desk  and  writ- 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOOD  GOVERNMENT    47 

ing.  He  must  have  an  idea  and  develop  that  idea  in 
every  possible  way.  It  is  his  business  to  get  results ; 
to  bring  things  about,  whether  it  is  writing  an  article 
or  making  a  speech." 

Thus,  after  a  successful  campaign  for  a  munici- 
pal water-supply  had  been  conducted  in  Kansas 
City,  Kansas,  Mr.  Nelson  suggested  that  a  more 
efficient  city  government  would  be  needed  to  oper- 
ate the  plant.  "  What  do  you  know  about  commis- 
sion government  ? "  he  asked  the  reporter  who  had 
been  assigned  to  the  campaign. 

"Not  a  thing,"  replied  the  reporter,  "except 
that  I  believe  it  is  a  good  plan." 

"  If  I  were  trying  to  help  a  city,"  said  Mr.  Nel- 
son, "I  would  be  looking  around  to  find  the  best 
government  in  the  world  for  it.  And  the  place  to 
find  out  about  commission  government  is  in  the 
cities  where  they  have  commission  government. 
We  cannot  afford  to  advocate  it  if  it  is  not  better 
than  the  old  rule,  and  we  must  get  the  facts  from 
commission  government  cities,  and  then  tell  the 
people  of  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  what  it  is  doing  for 
those  cities." 

So  he  sent  the  reporter  to  commission-govern- 
ment cities  to  study  the  plan.  As  a  result  The  Star 


48         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

advocated  commission  government.  In  the  first 
fight  in  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  the  plan  was  defeated. 
Only  a  few  people  could  be  found  to  take  an  in- 
terest in  the  movement. 

When  the  reporter  complained  of  this,  Mr.  Nel- 
son said :  "  Well,  did  you  expect  them  to  forsake 
the  traditions  of  a  lifetime  about  municipal  gov- 
ernment in  a  single  month?  Remember  that  you, 
yourself,  were  not  sure  about  commission  govern- 
ment until  you  saw  it  in  actual  operation.  The 
people  will  adopt  commission  government  when 
they  become  acquainted  with  it.  It  is  our  business 
to  tell  them  all  about  it,  and  to  tell  it  over  and  over 
again  until  they  get  acquainted  with  it.  Then  they 
will  adopt  it.  You  can  always  trust  the  people  to 
do  what  is  best  when  they  know  what  is  best." 

Commission  government  was  adopted  in  less 
than  two  years. 

But  Mr.  Nelson  was  not  content  with  urging 
at  home  what  he  believed  to  be  a  great  for- 
ward step  in  municipal  government.  He  had  a 
pamphlet  published  giving  the  results  of  commis- 
sion government  in  various  cities.  These  were  sent 
out  by  the  thousands  from  The  Star  office.  At 
the  same  time  he  detailed  a  member  of  the  staff  to 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOOD  GOVERNMENT  49 

speak  on  the  subject  in  the  surrounding  territory. 
It  became  the  custom  when  a  commission-govern- 
ment campaign  was  on  in  any  town  to  send  to  The 
Star  for  its  literature  and  its  speaker. 

In  the  field  of  general  politics  the  principle  of  the 
square  deal  always  dominated  The  Star.  In  politics 
Mr.  Nelson  never  looked  at  the  label.  He  looked 
only  at  the  movement,  or  the  man,  or  the  measure 
beneath  the  label. 

The  fact  that  policies  which  he  believed  were 
essential  to  the  public  welfare  were  sometimes  de- 
feated at  the  polls  never  caused  an  instant's  waver- 
ing in  his  faith  in  the  people.  On  such  occasions  he 
would  quote  Lincoln's  maxim :  "  You  can  fool  all 
the  people  part  of  the  time  and  you  can  fool  some 
of  the  people  all  the  time,  but  you  can't  fool  all  the 
people  all  the  time." 

If  things  went  wrong  he  had  an  unshaken  faith 
that  eventually  they  would  go  right.  The  trouble 
had  been,  he  would  say,  that  people  had  been  so 
busy  they  had  not  given  the  matter  proper  atten- 
tion. Perhaps  The  Star  had  not  succeeded  in  making 
things  clear.  Next  time  the  newspaper  would  take 
a  fresh  start  and  there  should  be  no  excuse  for  any- 
body failing  to  get  the  issue. 


50         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

It  was  a  favorite  expression  of  his  that  nothing 
much  was  gained  by  a  single  battle.  There  would 
have  to  be  a  siege.  And  he  had  absolutely  un- 
wavering confidence  that  in  the  end  the  siege  would 
be  successful. 

Several  years  before  his  death  he  issued  a  letter 
to  The  Star's  staff.  Several  passages  are  typical 
of  the  views  he  was  always  emphasizing :  — 

The  loss  of  a  local  election  has  never  been  a 
matter  of  very  serious  concern  to  The  Star,  which 
constantly  is  occupied  with  greater  things  than 
filling  offices  and  is  concerned  in  election  results 
only  as  they  accelerate  or  retard  those  more  im- 
portant purposes.   .   .   . 

In  the  permanent  things,  both  great  and  small, 
with  which  The  Star  is  engaged,  every  one  having 
a  part  in  its  production  should  have  a  hand.  Every 
one  should  clearly  understand  those  purposes  and 
have  them  constantly  in  mind,  so  that  no  news  or 
information  or  influence  bearing  upon  any  of  them 
shall  be  overlooked  or  disregarded.  Every  reporter, 
every  writer,  every  desk-man  should  regard  each 
of  these  subjects  as  a  continuous  assignment  in 
which  the  best  interest  of  the  paper  is  concerned. 
And,  in  general,  every  one  should  strive  to  furnish 
ideas  and  suggestions ;  to  find  new  opportunities 
for  the  paper's  active  service ;  new  features  of  in- 
terest ;  new  ways  of  doing  things. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOOD  GOVERNMENT    51 

The  letter  went  on  to  cite  "  square  elections/' 
"commission  government,"  the  "  participation  of 
churches  in  politics,"  and  "  development  of  public 
schools,"  as  illustrations. 

The  very  essence  of  what  Mr.  Nelson  himself 
said  time  and  again  was  expressed  by  the  New 
York  Evening  Post  in  this  comment  on  him  and 
his  lifework :  — 

As  a  result  of  all  this,  the  hold  of  The  Kansas 
City  Star  upon  its  community  was  such  that  in  any 
situation  that  arose  in  the  affairs  of  the  city  —  the 
location  of  a  park,  the  undertaking  of  public  works, 
or  what  not  —  its  voice  was  always  potent  and 
usually  decisive.  This  does  not  by  any  means 
imply  that  it  could  decide  elections.  It  carried  no 
"vote"  in  its  pocket.  That  is  impossible  for  a 
truly  independent  paper;  such  a  paper  must  al- 
ways be  ready  to  fight,  when  necessary,  for  the 
side  that  is  almost  sure  to  lose,  and  to  take  defeat 
with  equanimity,  after  having  done  its  best  for  the 
cause  that  it  thinks  right.  This  is  what  happened 
again  and  again  to  The  Kansas  City  Star,  but  its 
influence  and  standing  were  left  quite  unimpaired 
by  the  adverse  count  of  noses. 

The  immediate  result  of  any  stand  Mr.  Nelson 
took  was  always  received  by  him  with  serenity. 
Whether  the  immediate  battle  was  lost  or  won, 


52         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

that  battle  was  an  incident.  He  went  into  every 
engagement  with  tremendous  vigor.  He  was  so 
confident  of  ultimate  victory  that  victory  always 
abided  with  him.  That  was  the  meaning  of  his 
prophetic  words  of  encouragement  to  his  staff — 
"  The  Star  never  loses."  So  that  the  battle  was 
stoutly  fought,  so  that  the  ideal  was  clearly  seen 
and  steadfastly  kept  in  purpose,  Mr.  Nelson  knew 
that  a  further  step  had  been  made  along  the  course 
he  had  chosen  for  himself  and  for  his  newspaper. 


CHAPTER   VI 

FIGHTING    THE    FRANCHISE    GRABBERS 

Throughout  thirty-five  years  Mr.  Nelson  fought 
the  franchise  grabbers  of  Kansas  City.  From  the 
first  year  of  its  existence  The  Star  took  an  active 
hand  in  trying  to  get  justice  for  the  city  from  the 
men  and  corporations  who  were  seeking  more  than 
their  share.  The  files  of  the  paper  furnish  a  chro- 
nology of  almost  unceasing  attempts  of  franchise 
promoters  to  best  the  city,  and  of  The  Star's  fight 
for  a  square  deal. 

A  year  before  his  death  he  had  a  corps  of  copy- 
ists go  through  the  files  and  cull  out  the  most  im- 
portant arguments  for  fair  street-railway  franchises. 
Much  of  the  material  was  merely  summarized. 
This  was  later  printed  in  book  form.  It  filled 
twenty-five  hundred  columns  of  solid  type  the 
length  and  width  of  the  news  columns  of  The  Star. 

The  record  makes  an  interesting  chapter  in  the 
history  of  public-utility  franchises.  It  is  of  especial 
value  in  showing  the  evolution  through  experience 
and  reflection  of  the  ideas  of  an  eminently  practical 


54         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

man  who  started  with  the  current  assumptions  and 
was  forced  to  conclusions  that  he  once  would  have 
regarded  as  impossibly  radical. 

At  the  outset,  Mr.  Nelson  put  his  faith  in  com- 
petition in  conjunction  with  compensation  to  the 
municipality.  In  1882,  when  The  Star  was  just 
over  a  year  old,  it  declared  the  issue  in  the  spring 
campaign  to  be  whether  the  street-railway  horse-car 
monopoly  should  continue  to  control  Kansas  City. 

The  Star  won  its  spurs  in  the  service  of  Kan- 
sas City  in  this  campaign.  A  few  miserable  mule 
cars  were  the  total  equipment  of  the  street-car 
company,  yet  it  was  powerful  enough  at  the  city 
hall  to  prevent  the  granting  of  a  privilege  to  op- 
erate a  new  system  to  a  company  that  promised 
sufficient  equipment  and  good  service.  Mr.  Nelson 
immediately  took  up  the  cause  of  competition  and 
good  service,  and  his  fight  resulted  in  a  grant  to 
the  new  company,  out  of  which  grew  the  cable 
railway  system  that  helped  to  make  Kansas  City. 

The  Star's  position  in  that  fight  was  stated  in 
Mr.  Nelson's  usual  definite  and  positive  manner 
in  a  long  editorial  of  March  31,  1882.  This  dis- 
cussed the  claims  of  Thomas  Corrigan,  head  of  the 
horse-car  company,  and  ended  as  follows:  — 


FIGHTING  FRANCHISE  GRABBERS     55 

One  word  more;  The  Evening  Star  again  says, 
as  it  has  said  before,  that  it  desires  to  see  Mr.  Cor- 
rigan  treated  with  perfect  fairness.  It  has  not  re- 
sorted to  billingsgate  or  vituperation  in  its  campaign 
against  his  monopoly.  It  has  not  sought  to  deprive 
him  of  any  privilege  to  which  he  may  be  properly 
entitled.  But  it  does  insist  that  neither  he  nor  any 
other  man  shall  be  allowed  to  possess  an  absolute 
monopoly  of  the  street-railway  business  of  Kansas 
City.  It  does  insist  that  competition  is  necessary 
for  the  protection  of  the  public.  It  does  insist  that 
he  should  be  compelled  to  comply  with  the  condi- 
tions of  his  charters,  or  give  way  to  others  who  will. 
It  does  insist  that  he,  like  every  other  citizen,  should 
be  forced  to  obey  the  ordinances  of  the  city.  It  does 
insist  that  he  shall  contribute  his  due  proportion  to 
the  municipal  revenues.  It  does  insist  that  the  city 
should  not  grant  any  more  street-railway  franchises 
except  upon  conditions  similar  to  those  imposed  in 
other  cities.  In  its  position  it  believes  itself  to  be 
sustained  by  the  great  power  of  public  opinion, 
which  must  sooner  or  later  prevail. 

In  1884,  when  the  city  council  "railroaded"  a 
thirty-year  franchise  extension  for  the  Corrigan 
Consolidated  Street  Railway  Company  —  an  ex- 
tension that  would  have  permitted  the  company  to 
operate  horse-cars  on  most  of  the  system  for  thirty 
years  with  five-cent  fares  and  no  transfers  —  The 


56         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

Star  alone  of  Kansas  City  newspapers  protested 
and  called  a  mass  meeting  of  indignation.  As  a 
result  this  "grab"  was  prevented  by  the  mayor's 
veto. 

Again  The  Star  declared  and  reiterated  over  and 
over  again  the  reason  for  its  fight.  In  the  issue  of 
September  13,  1884,  its  attitude  toward  franchises 
was  thus  outlined :  — 

In  the  first  place,  the  policy  should  contemplate, 
so  far  as  possible,  the  prevention  of  monopolies  in 
the  transportation  of  passengers  through  the  city. 
The  next  principle  to  be  recognized  in  all  ordi- 
nances granting  or  renewing  franchises  is  that  in 
every  instance  the  city  should  reserve  the  right  to 
alter  or  amend,  in  all  particulars,  the  ordinances. 
Finally,  in  granting  franchises,  the  city  should  re- 
ceive all  that  they  are  reasonably  worth. 

In  1 895  the  city  council  granted,  over  The  Star's 
protests,  an  extension  of  franchises  worth  millions 
of  dollars  to  the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway,  with 
no  compensation  to  the  city.  The  Star  denounced 
the  deal  as  "infamous,"  but  there  was  no  way  to 
prevent  it.  The  referendum  on  franchises  had  not 
yet  been  invented. 

It  was  in  the  contest  of  1895  that  The  Star  first 
prophesied  with  confidence  the  ultimate  munici- 


FIGHTING  FRANCHISE  GRABBERS     57 

palization  of  all  the  public  utilities  of  Kansas  City. 
An  editorial  of  June  7,  1895,  said:  — 

The  idea  that  the  city  ought  to  control  its  nat- 
ural monopolies  has  been  rapidly  growing  in 
favor  here  for  the  past  few  years.  The  water- 
works will  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  city  without 
further  delay.  This  will  prepare  the  way  for  the 
acquisition  in  due  season  of  other  properties  and 
institutions  which  are  maintained  through  the  use 
of  franchises  granted  by  the  city.  Kansas  City  has 
taken  the  first  great  step  toward  casting  off  the 
yoke  of  the  monopolies,  and  its  complete  emanci- 
pation will  follow  as  a  matter  of  course. 

But  municipal  ownership  or  the  abandonment 
of  all  franchise  grants  was  not  then  advocated  as 
being  immediately  feasible.  On  June  18  of  the 
same  year  The  Star  said :  — 

The  different  companies  which  have  made  use 
of  the  streets  and  alleys  of  Kansas  City  have  been 
handsomely  reimbursed  for  the  investments  which 
they  have  made,  and  as  each  comes  suing  for  a 
new  lease  of  life  it  is  the  right  and  the  duty  of  the 
city  to  demand  a  fair  equivalent  for  its  franchises, 
which  have  greatly  increased  in  value  with  the 
growth  in  population  and  the  vast  accretion  of  com- 
mercial and  industrial  interests,  which  are  centered 
here  and  which  will  multiply  indefinitely  as  the 
years  go  by. 


58         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

And  that  was  followed  on  August  1,  1895,  by 
the  statement:  — 

No  franchises  should  be  given  under  any  cir- 
cumstances in  the  future  which  may  control  the 
great  public  needs  of  the  city  without  at  least  an 
optional  power  of  purchase  on  the  part  of  the  city, 
upon  reasonable  terms.  The  American  people  are 
just  beginning  to  realize  that  if  cities  are  not  built 
for  eternity,  they  are  at  least  likely  to  exist  long 
enough  to  justify  a  long  look  into  the  future.  Kan- 
sas City  should  build  for  the  Twentieth  Century 
without  delay. 

The  grant  of  1895,  extending  to  1925  all  the 
franchises  that  had  been  absorbed  by  the  Metro- 
politan Company,  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of 
attempts  on  the  part  of  the  street-railway  owners 
to  get  franchise  grants,  not  for  operating  pur- 
poses, but  for  melon-cutting  purposes.  In  1902 
such  a  grant  was  obtained,  with  The  Star  fighting 
against  it  as  usual.  It  proved  deficient  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  melon-cutters,  and  four  years 
later  the  street  railway  proposed  to  build  a  viaduct 
to  the  stock  yards  in  return  for  a  ten-year  exten- 
sion. Business  interests  and  many  politicians  were 
acquiescent.  But  Mr.  Nelson  sent  a  reporter  to 
other  cities  to  get  information  on  franchise  values, 


FIGHTING  FRANCHISE  GRABBERS     59 

and  the  statement  made  to  The  Star  by  Mayor 
Tom  Johnson  of  Cleveland  that  a  ten-year  exten- 
sion with  five-cent  fares  could  easily  be  capitalized 
for  ten  million  dollars  defeated  the  trade.  "  There 
will  be  nine  more  councils  before  the  franchise  ex- 
pires," the  head  of  the  company  remarked  to  the 
city  counselor  who  was  opposing  the  grant.  "If 
we  don't  get  it  from  one  we  will  from  another. " 

Mr.  Nelson  saw  that  the  franchise  would  be  the 
real  issue  in  the  next  city  campaign,  and  The  Star 
fought  on  that  basis.  But  the  people  were  not  to 
be  convinced  until  the  newly  elected  mayor  began 
a  series  of  farcical  negotiations  with  the  street  rail- 
way, in  which  it  was  evident  that  the  company  was 
to  write  its  own  franchise.  The  Star  was  a  chief 
factor  in  the  defeat  of  the  attempted  grab  in  De- 
cember, 1909. 

Meanwhile  the  Roosevelt  campaign  for  railroad 
regulation  had  directed  public  attention  to  the  need 
of  regulating  all  public  utilities.  Mr.  Nelson  had 
come  to  believe  that  there  must  be  public  control 
of  street  railways,  and  in  1907  The  Star  had 
backed  Governor  Folk's  fight  for  the  Enabling  Act 
for  Cities,  under  which  city  councils  were  em- 
powered to  create  public-utility  commissions.   The 


60         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

experience  with  the  city  government  and  its  fran- 
chise of  1909  persuaded  The  Star's  editor  that  city 
commissions  were  too  directly  subject  to  political 
influence.  He  turned  with  a  degree  of  hope  to  a 
state  commission,  and  gave  vigorous  aid  in  the 
struggle  for  such  a  commission,  which  was  estab- 
lished by  the  legislature  under  the  Major  adminis- 
tration in  1913.  But  he  was  gradually  brought  to 
the  conclusion  that  under  existing  conditions  the 
attempt  to  regulate  so  resourceful  an  institution  as 
a  street  railway  fortified  by  a  long  term  franchise 
must  be  futile. 

Mr.  Nelson's  experience  in  street-railway  fights, 
his  knowledge  of  broken  contracts,  of  the  utility 
corporations' continual  demand  for  "more,"  and  of 
their  constant  corruptive  control  of  politics,  forced 
a  logical  development  of  The  Star's  attitude  to- 
ward the  use  of  the  streets  for  public  service.  His 
essential  position  that  the  public  interest  comes 
first  and  that  the  private  interest  should  pay  for 
what  it  got  and  fulfill  its  obligations,  never  varied. 
But  his  ideas  as  to  means  for  protecting  the  pub- 
lic interest  from  the  private  interest  varied  as  the 
tactics  of  the  private  interests  caused  it  to  vary. 
From  competition  and  compensation,  through  strict 


^r 


FIGHTING  FRANCHISE  GRABBERS     61 

control  and  regulation,  he  reached  the  belief  that 
no  franchises  whatever  should  be  granted  by  a 
city.  An  illuminating  editorial  of  June  7,  1914, 
entitled  "  Consistency,"  explained  this  growth  of 
The  Star's  policy :  — 

Two  years  ago  The  Star  cherished  the  hope 
that  it  would  be  possible  to  work  out  a  franchise 
"  based,"  as  it  was  said  at  the  time,  "  on  the 
square  deal,"  which  would  be  for  the  interest  of 
the  city. 

In  the  two  years  that  have  elapsed  it  has  be- 
come convinced  that  this  was  a  vain  hope.  It  has 
become  convinced  further  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  a  square  deal  franchise. 

A  contract  lasting  thirty  years,  a  whole  genera- 
tion, and  adequately  safeguarding  the  rights  of  the 
city,  is  out  of  the  question.  This  has  been  demon- 
strated by  the  experience,  not  only  of  Kansas 
City,  but  of  other  cities  as  well. 

The  only  arrangement  that  protects  a  city  is 
the  day-to-day  or  year-to-year  permit,  such  as 
Detroit  is  now  using,  with  the  right  of  municipal 
purchase  at  the  real  value  of  the  property.  Then 
the  company  is  put  on  its  good  behavior  to  fur- 
nish decent  service,  and  the  rate  of  fare  can  be 
adjusted  from  year  to  year  to  meet  the  actual  cost 
of  operation. 

This  is  a  reasonable  and  a  workable  plan.  The 
only  objection  to  it  comes  from  financiers  who 


62         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

want  to  make  a  good  thing  out  of  long-time  fran- 
chises —  who  dislike  exceedingly  to  see  the  good 
old  practice  of  melon-cutting  abandoned.   .  .   . 

Since  1912  evidence  has  accumulated  that  dem- 
onstrates beyond  possibility  of  doubt  that  this  city 
should  grant  no  more  long-term  franchises.  The 
Star  would  be  false  to  its  deepest  purposes,  it 
would  be  fundamentally  inconsistent,  if  it  did  not 
frankly  admit  what  the  evidence  proves. 

So  long  as  it  stands  for  the  interests  of  Kansas 
City,  The  Star  is  consistent. 

This  editorial  was  published  in  what  proved  to 
be  his  last  street  railway  campaign.  The  company 
had  returned  to  the  attack  in  1914  with  the  acqui- 
escence of  a  friendly  city  administration.  Against 
the  franchise  then  negotiated  Mr.  Nelson  made  the 
greatest  fight  of  a  great  fighting  career.  When  it 
was  counted  in  at  the  polls,  he  was  convinced  that 
the  majority  was  fraudulent,  and  at  once  set  men  to 
collecting  evidence  on  the  subject.  The  progress 
of  this  investigation  was  one  of  the  things  that  ab- 
sorbed his  attention  in  his  last  illness. 

One  great  reason  why  he  opposed  a  long-time 
contract  with  the  trolley  system  was  his  convic- 
tion that  it  was  failing  to  meet  the  needs  of  a 
modern  city  and  was  becoming  obsolete.  His  ideal 


FIGHTING  FRANCHISE  GRABBERS     63 

was  a  city  covering  the  whole  county,  so  that 
there  should  be  no  congested  district  and  that 
every  home  might  have  its  yard  and  garden.  For 
such  a  city  rapid  transit  was  essential,  and  he  felt 
that  the  surface  trolleys  could  not  furnish  it.  He 
had  seen  the  old  stage  supplanted  by  the  horse 
car,  the  horse  car  by  the  cable,  and  the  cable  by 
the  trolley.  He  was  looking  for  the  next  step, 
which  he  believed  might  come  from  the  motor  car 
driven  either  by  a  gasoline  engine  or  by  elec- 
tricity. Such  a  vehicle,  operating  in  small  units 
with  few  stops,  he  thought  promised  the  express 
service  which  was  lacking.  He  was  instigating  a 
discussion  of  the  matter  in  the  columns  of  The 
Star  at  the  time  he  became  ill.  The  advent  of 
the  jitneys  he  watched  from  his  sickroom  with 
the  greatest  interest.  They  offered,  in  his  opinion, 
a  possible  solution  of  a  pressing  social  problem. 
One  of  the  suggestions  dictated  by  him  and  sent 
to  the  office  a  few  weeks  before  his  death  was 
this :  — 

City  streets  thus  far  have  been  considered  as 
belonging  exclusively  to  the  rich  on  which  to  issue 
stocks  and  bonds.  Granting  that  only  one  thou- 
sand jitneys  will  be  necessary  to  take  care  of  the 


64         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

business  in  Kansas  City,  what  a  splendid  thing  it 
will  be  to  give  independent  occupation  to  that 
number  of  good  men  and  good  women  ! 

The  Star's  activity  on  behalf  of  cheaper  and 
better  lighting  for  Kansas  City  constitutes  a  nota- 
ble chapter  in  its  history.  At  a  time  when  other 
cities  were  getting  gas  at  a  dollar  for  a  thousand 
cubic  feet,  Kansas  City  was  paying  $1.60.  The 
gas  company  saw  its  danger,  for  it  had  a  vulner- 
able franchise,  and  attempted  to  forestall  it.  A 
thirty-year  grant  for  gas  at  $1.40  was  secretly 
prepared  and  preparations  were  made  to  rush  it 
through  the  council  without  debate.  Word  of  the 
proposed  plan  was  brought  to  The  Star  office. 
Mr.  Nelson  attacked  it  with  characteristic  energy. 

Flaring  headlines  denounced  the  "  Franchise 
Grab,"  and  the  news  columns  pointed  out  the  se- 
cret methods  that  had  been  used  to  insure  putting 
over  the  franchise.  Editorially  The  Star  declared 
for  "  a  proper  share  of  the  profits  of  the  business 
for  the  city,"  and  "opportunity  for  the  city's 
purchase  of  the  entire  plant  within  a  reasonable 
period,  and  upon  terms  and  conditions  that  are 
just  and  equitable  to  the  city."  The  city,  it  was 
urged,  was  "  practically  a  partner  in  the  enter- 


FIGHTING  FRANCHISE  GRABBERS     65 

prise."  That  was  in  1894,  long  before  the  social 
view  of  franchises  was  prevalent,  and  while  busi- 
ness interests  universally  regarded  them  as  essen- 
tially get-rich-quick  schemes.  The  Star's  publicity 
defeated  the  proposed  grab,  and  dollar  gas  was 
the  immediate  result. 

Within  a  few  years,  however,  the  gas  company 
was  failing  to  live  up  to  its  contract  with  the  city 
in  the  distribution  of  natural  gas,  for  which  it  had 
obtained  a  franchise.  The  Star  began  a  vigorous 
campaign  to  compel  it  to  fulfill  its  obligations. 
The  company's  chief  counsel  called  on  Mr.  Nel- 
son to  protest.  "But  surely,  colonel,"  he  urged, 
"you  want  to  be  fair  to  the  company."  "  Fair  to 
the  company !  "  Mr.  Nelson  exploded.  "  By  gad, 
that's  just  what  I  don't  want  to  be.  When  has 
the  company  been  fair  to  the  city  ? " 


CHAPTER  VII 

IN    THE    SERVICE    OF    THE    CITY 

Mr.  Nelson  was  always  devising  plans  for  city 
improvements.  Very  few  persons  ever  knew  the 
number  of  civic  movements  which  originated  in  his 
creative  imagination,  but  which  were  credited  to 
other  men. 

He  would  go  to  his  office  in  the  morning  and 
take  from  his  pocket  a  paper  upon  which  he  had 
jotted  down  some  idea  as  it  had  occurred  to  him, 
and  say :  "  Now,  who  can  we  find  who  would  be 
interested  in  pushing  this  sort  of  thing  ? "  It  was 
always  his  idea  to  let  somebody  else  get  the  credit, 
rather  than  to  take  it  for  The  Star. 

"  The  Star,"  he  would  say,  "  is  getting  on  very 
well  as  it  is.  We  don't  have  to  have  an  incentive 
to  stand  for  Kansas  City.  But  we  want  always  to 
be  on  the  lookout  to  get  as  many  different  per- 
sons as  we  can  enlisted  in  the  service  of  the  town. 
There  is  no  better  way  to  get  them  interested  than 
to  set  them  at  work." 

It  was  in  this  way  he  gave  momentum  to  the 


IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  CITY        67 

movement  which  gave  free  public  baths  to  Kansas 
City.  In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Nelson,  shortly  after  Mr. 
Nelson's  death,  Mr.  U.  S.  Epperson,  of  Kansas 
City,  told  how  the  movement  originated.  He  had 
become  acquainted  with  Mr.  Nelson  while  cross- 
ing the  ocean  in  1895,  and  they  had  talked  of  the 
fact  that  Kansas  City  had  no  public  baths  such  as 
other  cities  had.  Four  years  later,  after  further  dis- 
cussion of  the  matter,  he  initiated  the  public  bath 
movement  with  this  letter  to  Mr.  Epperson :  — 

I  think  that  Kansas  City  needs  a  public  bath- 
house, wherein  whosoever  will  may  swim  and 
scrub  and  enjoy  himself  without  cost.  Summer 
will  be  here  soon  and  the  bathing  place  should  be 
ready  when  it  comes. 

It  has  occurred  to  me  that  a  great  ball  in  Con- 
vention Hall  would  realize  enough  money  to  build 
and  equip  such  a  place,  and  with  this  thought  in 
mind  I  propose  that  if  you  will  undertake  the  work 
of  organizing  and  directing  such  a  ball  I,  for  my 
share,  will  stand  the  cost  of  the  hall  rental,  the 
music,  the  decorations,  the  printing  and  all  other 
expenses  incidental  to  giving  it,  so  that  every  dol- 
lar paid  for  dancing  or  admission  tickets  shall  go 
into  the  building. 

I  would  suggest  April  2,  Easter  Monday,  as  a 
good  time  for  the  ball,  but  I  have  no  stipulations 


68         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

to  make  except  that  the  price  of  ball  tickets  shall 
not  exceed  one  dollar  for  each  dancer. 

I  may  say  that  Messrs.  Van  Brunt  &  Howe  have 
prepared  preliminary  drawings,  sketches  and  esti- 
mates, showing  the  feasibility  of  the  project. 

How  the  project  was  carried  out  Mr.  Epperson 
told  as  follows:  — 

I  was  more  than  glad  to  head  the  undertaking, 
and  in  order  to  make  the  evening  attractive  to  those 
who  did  not  dance,  it  was  decided  to  precede  the 
ball  with  a  minstrel  show.  The  Star's  powerful 
backing  brought  to  the  aid  of  the  project  the  per- 
sonal help  of  a  great  many  leading  citizens  who 
contributed  much  time  to  its  success,  and  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  young  men  volunteered  to 
do  their  best  toward  providing  the  interesting  pro- 
gram. Neither  the  committeemen  nor  the  perform- 
ers asked  or  received  any  compensation.  Only  the 
professional  musicians  forming  the  orchestra  were 
paid.  The  night's  receipts  were  between  twelve 
and  thirteen  thousand  dollars.  The  expenses  paid 
by  Mr.  Nelson  were  more  than  twenty-two  hun- 
dred dollars.  This  amount,  with  some  additional 
money,  brought  into  existence  Kansas  City's  first 
public  bath,  located  on  park  ground  fronting  the 
Paseo.  The  way  the  people  flocked  to  that  pool 
was  a  convincing  argument  for  others,  and  we  all 
know  how  generously  we  are  now  provided  with 
those  beautiful  and  useful  free  bathing  places  in 


IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  CITY        69 

practically  every  quarter  of  the  city.  To  raise  the 
fund  for  the  first  bath  The  Star  devoted  pages  of 
display  advertising  and  unlimited  space  in  its  read- 
ing columns  as  well. 

This  one  initiative  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Nelson  is 
not  only  responsible  for  our  public  bath  system, 
but  it  was  such  an  inspiration  to  the  young  men 
who  formed  the  minstrel  show  that  other  perform- 
ances were  given  later,  generally  from  one  to  two 
a  year,  until  a  total  of  ten  had  been  given.  The 
gross  receipts  were  more  than  eighty  thousand  dol- 
lars, from  which  were  paid  the  expenses  of  the 
shows  which  followed  the  first.  The  money  was 
used  partly  for  the  Convention  Hall  (which,  in- 
cidentally, Mr.  Nelson  also  fathered  and  twice 
pushed  to  success,  the  first  hall  having  burned), 
at  that  time  not  entirely  completed  and  in  debt; 
and  partly  to  help  the  Priests  of  Pallas  Association 
in  providing  our  fall  festivities,  the  last  of  the  fund 
having  been  turned  over  to  the  park  board  for  baths 
in  Penn  Valley  Park.  Each  of  these  performances 
had  The  Star's  support  in  free  advertising  in  its 
columns.  I  mention  this  one  initiative  and  accom- 
plishment, with  its  far-reaching  results,  as  character- 
istic of  the  many,  many  projects  for  the  benefit  of 
this  city  which  have  been  born  of  the  same  mind 
and  carried  on  to  fulfillment  by  the  same  power. 

In  1893  The  Star  began  the  agitation  for  an 
auditorium  in  Kansas  City  somewhat  after  the  idea 


7o         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

of  Madison  Square  Garden  in  New  York,  a  place 
that  should  be  suitable  for  large  public  gatherings, 
expositions,  concerts,  conventions,  educational  con- 
gresses and  entertainments  of  all  kinds ;  a  sort  of 
central  rallying  place  for  the  whole  city,  and  the 
Southwest  as  well. 

There  was  no  such  place  in  Kansas  City,  no  hall 
large  enough  to  hold  a  great  gathering  of  people, 
and  the  progress  of  the  city  was  hampered  from 
lack  of  it. 

The  campaign  for  this  auditorium  continued  for 
five  years.  When  public  sentiment  was  ripe  Mr. 
Nelson  called  a  public  meeting  at  which  twenty- 
one  thousand  dollars  was  pledged  to  the  building 
fund.  Then  followed  a  series  of  concerts  and  other 
entertainments,  all  fathered  by  The  Star,  and  when 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  had 
been  obtained,  Convention  Hall  was  built.  On 
Washington's  Birthday,  1899,  Bandmaster  Sousa 
raised  his  baton  and  the  first  concert  was  given,  to 
the  largest  audience  ever  gathered  in  the  South- 
west. 

Within  a  year  this  great  hall  burned  to  the 
ground,  and  The  Star  helped  in  another  campaign 
which  rebuilt   the  hall  within  three    months,   in 


IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  CITY        71 

time  for  the  holding  in  it  of  the  first  national  po- 
litical convention  ever  held  in  Kansas  City.  This 
was  the  Democratic  Convention  of  July,  1900,  in 
which  William  Jennings  Bryan  was  nominated  for 
the  Presidency.   The  second  hall  was  fireproof. 

The  necessity  for  traffic  ways  appealed  to  the 
practical  instinct  of  the  former  contractor,  and  he 
began  a  series  of  campaigns  for  ways  for  heavier 
traffic,  and  for  viaducts  spanning  the  West  Bot- 
toms and  uniting  the  two  Kansas  Citys  by  high- 
ways of  easy  grade.  No  one  not  associated  with 
him  in  the  devising  and  working  out  of  all  these 
projects  could  have  even  an  idea  of  the  immense 
amount  of  planning  and  labor  on  his  part  that 
those  achievements  required,  and  the  tremendous 
amount  of  argument,  in  print  and  picture,  that  was 
given  in  The  Star  before  the  plans  were  realized. 

As  an  illustration  of  this :  After  the  site  of  the 
new  Union  Station  had  been  selected,  he  planned 
the  Twenty-third  Street  Traffic  Way  to  give  Kan- 
sas City,  Kansas,  a  direct  route,  of  easy  grade,  to 
it.  He  assigned  a  man  to  work  up  public  senti- 
ment in  its  favor. 

"  It  will  take  ten  years,  perhaps,  to  get  it,"  he 
said,  "  but  it  must  come.  Now  is  the  time  to  begin." 


72         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

When  the  reporter  began  work  on  this  traffic 
way  it  was  impossible  to  get  anyone  in  Kansas 
City,  Kansas,  to  admit  its  feasibility.  The  city  offi- 
cers would  not  discuss  it  above  a  whisper.  They 
refused  to  be  quoted  on  the  subject  further  than 
to  say :  "  Yes,  it  would  be  a  grand  thing,  if  we 
could  get  it."  When  its  construction  was  finally 
begun  six  years  later  it  followed  almost  exactly  the 
route  outlined  by  Mr.  Nelson  in  The  Star. 

In  1907  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  was  having  trouble 
over  its  water  situation.  Mr.  Nelson  called  a  com- 
paratively new  reporter  to  his  desk. 

"We  ought  to  help  Kansas  City,  Kansas,"  he 
said.  "  It  is  as  much  a  part  of  Kansas  City  as  the 
Kansas  City  in  Missouri.  The  Star  is  under  obliga- 
tions to  do  everything  in  its  power  to  help  the  peo- 
ple in  that  part  of  the  city.  Now,  I  am  going  to 
give  you  a  general  assignment  that  will  not  be  for 
a  day  or  for  a  week  or  a  month.  It  will  be  a  per- 
manent assignment  that  will  last  as  long  as  you  are 
on  The  Star. 

"  Help  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  with  all  the  power  of 
this  paper,  always  remembering  that  this  paper  is  at- 
torney for  the  men  and  women  who  pay  it  ten  cents 
a  week.  Whatever  is  best  for  them  this  paper  is  for. 


IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  CITY        73 

"Just  now,"  Mr.  Nelson  continued,  "the  people 
over  in  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  need  help  to  get  good 
water.  I  want  you  to  go  to  Kansas  City,  Kansas, 
to-day  and  to-morrow  and  every  day  that  is  neces- 
sary until  you  find  out  what  is  the  shortest  and 
most  feasible  way  to  get  good  water  for  that  side 
and  let  us  then  help  them  in  that  way." 

And  then  he  said  the  thing  he  was  so  fond  of 
saying  to  every  man  who  came  to  work  on  The 
Star : — 

"  Remember  this :  The  Star  has  a  greater  pur- 
pose in  life  than  merely  to  print  the  news.  It  be- 
lieves in  doing  things.  I  can  employ  plenty  of  men 
merely  to  write  for  the  paper.  The  successful  re- 
porter is  the  one  who  knows  how  to  get  results  by 
working  to  bring  about  the  thing  he  is  trying  to  do." 

Many  times  the  young  man  was  discouraged. 
The  results  came  so  slowly  that  at  times  it  ap- 
peared that  he  was  accomplishing  nothing.  But 
then  he  would  talk  over  the  situation  with  his  chief, 
only  to  have  his  difficulties  laughed  at  as  mere  in- 
cidents of  any  good  fight,  and  to  receive  encour- 
agement that  sent  him  out  on  the  task  the  next  day 
with  renewed  determination  and  with  renewed  faith 
in  the  outcome  of  his  work. 


74         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

The  fight  was  made  through  the  city  council, 
through  the  state  legislature,  through  the  courts, 
and  finally  through  an  election  for  the  purchase  of 
the  water  works  by  the  city. 

In  this  fight  another  revelation  was  given  to  the 
young  reporter.  When  Mr.  Nelson  gave  him  the 
assignment  he  said:  «« Personally,  I  am  not  so 
strong  for  municipal  ownership  under  our  present 
system  of  political  rule.  See  if  there  is  not  some 
other  solution  to  the  problem  than  municipal  own- 
ership." 

When  the  reporter  reached  the  conclusion  that 
there  was  no  other  solution  Mr.  Nelson  agreed. 
"  I  want  you  to  know  this,"  he  said.  "  The  Star  is 
the  only  paper  in  the  world,  I  suppose,  without  a 
'fixed  policy/  It  is  always  for  the  thing  that  is 
most  efficient  and  most  feasible.  What  it  advocated 
yesterday,  it  feels  at  perfect  liberty  to  <  kick  over ' 
to-day  if  it  finds  that  what  it  advocated  yesterday 
stands  in  the  way  of  what  it  finds  is  a  good  thing 
to-day." 

The  Star  went  into  the  campaign  for  municipal 
ownership,  and  the  results  were  so  satisfactory  that 
the  paper  became  an  advocate  of  the  widest 
latitude  in  the  exercise  of  municipal  ownership. 


IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  CITY       75 

To  many  other  tasks  for  the  betterment  and 
upbuilding  of  Kansas  City  he  brought  the  same 
initiative  and  energy — to  protection  from  floods 
in  the  Missouri  and  Kaw  Rivers,  to  the  lessening  of 
the  smoke  nuisance  and  the  installation  of  smoke 
consumers,  to  the  abolition  of  railway  grade  cross- 
ings, to  the  suppression  of  unnecessary  noises,  to  the 
annual  clean-up  of  the  city,  to  the  improving  of 
alleys  and  the  regeneration  of  unsightly  back  yards, 
to  encouragement  of  the  love  of  birds,  to  the  plant- 
ing of  trees  and  the  suppression  of  insect  pests,  to 
water  for  rural  Jackson  County,  to  the  setting  out 
of  shrubs,  to  the  bettering  of  public  school  condi- 
tions, to  anything  that  promised  to  make  the  city 
more  attractive. 

To  backyard  vegetable  gardens  and  the  planting 
of  vacant  lots  he  gave  much  attention.  One  year  he 
arranged  with  expert  market  gardeners  to  report 
the  results  of  work  on  a  trial  acre,  to  show  the 
people  the  profits  that  might  come  from  intensive 
cultivation  of  even  a  small  tract  of  ground.  The 
results  were  not  only  printed  in  The  Star  from  time 
to  time,  but  were  published  in  a  pamphlet  that  was 
freely  distributed. 

The  agricultural  development  of  the  territory 


76         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

tributary  to  Kansas  City  was  his  especial  concern, 
and  he  would  send  a  reporter  any  distance  to  learn 
and  tell  how  one  man  had  succeeded  better  than 
his  neighbor  in  growing  corn,  or  how  the  apple 
yield  had  been  increased  by  pruning  or  spraying, 
or  how  a  man  had  grown  better  lettuce  or  peaches 
or  strawberries.  When  a  farmer's  wife  in  Western 
Kansas  was  awarded  first  prize  in  a  butter-making 
contest,  he  sent  a  man  there  to  get  her  story  of 
how  she  did  it.  He  sent  a  man  to  the  dairy  districts 
of  the  North  to  get  information  valuable  to  the 
farmers  of  the  Southwest.  When  it  was  announced 
that  a  man  in  Wisconsin  was  doing  a  successful 
dairying  business  with  forty  cows  on  forty  acres, 
"a  cow  to  the  acre,"  he  sent  a  reporter  there  for 
full  information  about  that.  Through  the  columns 
of  the  weekly  edition  of  The  Star  he  interested  the 
farm  boys  of  the  country  in  corn-growing  contests 
for  prizes  offered  by  him. 

There  were  times  when  he  was  obliged  to  go 
away  for  reasons  of  health,  and  they  were  the  least 
happy  times  of  his  life.  He  never  was  able  on  these 
occasions  to  get  away  from  his  work,  and  always 
kept  in  as  close  touch  with  The  Star  by  the  tele- 
graph wire  as  he  would  have  been  if  seated  at  his 


IN  THE  SERVICE  OF  THE  CITY        77 

desk.  Wherever  he  went  and  whatever  he  saw,  the 
value  of  his  experience  or  the  information  he  ac- 
quired was  measured  by  its  use  to  him  in  his  work 
of  building  up  Kansas  City.  Fine  roads,  pleasing 
architecture,  trees,  gardens,  public  improvements, 
all  whipped  his  imagination.  In  his  view  nothing 
was  too  good  for  Kansas  City,  nothing  too  big  for 
Kansas  City. 

"I  never  come  back  to  Kansas  City,"  he  once 
said,  "  that  I  do  not  find  the  sun  shining  as  it  never 
shines  in  the  places  where  I  have  been." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

HIS    LOYALTY    TO    THE    COMMON    WELFARE 

"  The  Star,"  Mr.  Nelson  used  to  say,  "is  published 
for  the  people  who  pay  it  ten  cents  a  week.  It  is 
their  newspaper.  It  must  be  their  champion  in 
everything."  One  of  his  favorite  stories  was  of  a 
stenographer  employed  by  an  acquaintance.  Shortly 
before  the  street  railway  franchise  election  of  1909 
the  employer  asked  the  young  woman  how  her 
husband  was  going  to  vote.  "Against  the  franchise," 
she  replied.  "  Can't  you  persuade  him  to  vote  for 
the  franchise?"  the  employer  said.  "You  know 
we  think  it  is  a  good  thing,  and  I  'm  sure  he  has  n't 
studied  it  and  doesn't  know  much  about  it."  "He 
hasn't  studied  it,"  she  answered,  "but  you  know 
we  depend  on  The  Star.  When  the  water  is  bad 
it  says  so,  and  it  gets  us  good  water.  When  the 
gas  is  poor  it  goes  after  the  gas  company.  And 
when  it  says  the  franchise  is  a  bad  thing,  my  hus- 
band is  going  to  follow  its  advice  and  vote  against  it." 
Countless  instances  might  be  told  of  Mr.  Nelson's 
instinctive  and  reasoned  democracy  and  sense  of 


THE  COMMON  WELFARE  79 

fair  play.  The  Workmen's  Compensation  Bill  was 
in  the  Missouri  Legislature.  Wealthy  and  power- 
ful men  sought  to  stop  his  vigorous  fight  for  it. 
They  said  they  would  be  "ruined."  "I  am  never 
afraid  that  the  men  on  top  of  the  mine  cannot  take 
care  of  themselves,"  he  said.  "My  concern  is  for 
the  men  at  the  bottom  of  the  mine,  digging  the 
coal." 

His  campaigns  against  many  schemes  formed  to 
defraud  the  people  of  Kansas  City  and  the  South- 
west illustrate  his  passion  for  honesty.  His  fights 
against  the  fraudulent  home  cooperative  companies, 
lotteries,  policy  games,  loan  sharks,  fee-grabbers, 
"snitch"  lawyers,  and  quack  doctors  can  only  be 
touched  upon  in  the  limited  space  of  this  book. 

When  he  founded  The  Star  in  1880  there  were 
many  gambling-houses  in  Kansas  City,  and  as  the 
city  grew  they  increased  and  many  new  devices  for 
fleecing  the  public  were  put  in  operation. 

One  of  the  worst  of  these  was  a  lottery  fraud, 
which  operated  under  several  different  names  in 
several  different  offices,  all  owned  and  managed  by 
a  man  without  scruples  of  conscience.  These  lot- 
teries pretended  to  pay  prizes  each  month  to  lucky 
holders  of  winning  tickets,  but,  in  fact,  no  prizes 


80         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

were  ever  paid.  The  thing  was  a  fraud,  pure  and 
simple,  and  a  fraud  of  the  meanest  kind,  because 
it  robbed  the  poor  and  the  ignorant. 

The  Star,  day  after  day,  exposed  the  fraud, 
warned  the  public  against  it  and  urged  the  authori- 
ties to  stamp  it  out  of  existence.  The  man  who 
operated  this  swindle  had  accumulated  a  fortune, 
and  he  fought  back  and  managed  to  continue  for 
a  while,  but  at  last  he  was  driven  out  of  the  city 
and  his  swindle  came  to  an  end. 

Another  man  in  Kansas  City  had  built  up  a  profit- 
able income  by  swindling  the  poor  with  a  system 
of  gambling  called  "policy."  This  appealed  espe- 
cially to  the  poor,  and  to  school  children,  because 
a  dime  invested  promised  returns  many  fold.  The 
owner  of  this  swindle  had  branches  in  all  parts  of 
the  city,  and  many  of  them  were  close  to  the  public 
schools,  where  pupils  were  enticed  in  to  invest  their 
nickels  and  dimes.  He  was  a  political  boss,  well 
intrenched,  and  it  took  a  bitter  fight  on  the  part  of 
The  Star  to  rout  him. 

In  1901  twenty  thousand  persons  in  and  around 
Kansas  City  had  been  lured  into  different  "  home 
cooperative"  lottery  frauds,  on  the  promise  that 
they  had  a  chance  to  "draw"  a  house  and  lot  by 


THE  COMMON  WELFARE  81 

the  investment  of  only  a  few  dollars.  There  were 
thirty  of  those  companies  in  Kansas  City,  and  some 
of  them  were  headed  by  men  of  prominence  in  the 
community. 

Having  learned  that  they  were  fraudulent  in 
their  nature,  Mr.  Nelson  attacked  them  in  The 
Star  and  carried  the  fight  up  to  the  Postmaster- 
General  in  Washington,  who  issued  a  fraud  order 
against  the  companies  operating  the  swindle,  and 
thus  put  them  out  of  business.  The  owners  of  one 
of  the  companies  sued  Mr.  Nelson  for  a  half-million 
dollars,  alleging  that  he  had  ruined  their  "business." 
They  lost  their  suit. 

Libel  suits  he  regarded  as  part  of  the  day's  work. 
Their  number  was  an  index  to  him  that  The  Star 
was  doing  its  duty.  If  he  felt  that  The  Star  had 
accidentally  or  mistakenly  done  some  one  an  in- 
jury, he  was  eager  to  make  reparation.  He  never 
knowingly  allowed  a  suit  against  the  paper  to 
come  to  trial  if  he  felt  there  was  merit  in  the 
action.  But  the  suits  brought  by  politicians  and  by 
enemies  of  the  public  he  welcomed. 

A  number  of  loan  sharks  in  Kansas  City  were 
amassing  wealth  by  exacting  usurious  rates  of  in- 
terest from  the  unfortunate.  They  would  lend  a 


82         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

working  man  or  woman  a  sum  of  money,  taking 
an  assignment  of  wages  as  security,  and  charging 
ten  per  cent  a  month  interest.  Those  loan  sharks 
had  a  business  partnership  with  certain  dishonest 
justice  courts  whereby  they  forced  their  victims 
to  keep  up  the  payment  of  the  interest  even  for 
years  after  the  aggregate  amount  of  interest  paid 
exceeded  the  principal  originally  borrowed.  The 
Star  attacked  and  drove  the  loan  sharks  out  of 
business. 

In  the  same  way  it  brought  to  an  end  the  com- 
binations of  "  fee-grabbers,"  by  which  officers  and 
judges  of  courts  caused  wholesale  arrests  in  order 
to  collect  fees. 

The  Star  carried  on  a  war  against  the  medical 
quacks  who  infested  Kansas  City,  advertising 
widely  to  cure  any  disease.  The  saloon  and  the 
liquor  traffic  Mr.  Nelson  fought  consistently 
throughout  his  career.  September  10,  1881,  ap- 
peared the  following  editorial  in  his  paper :  "  What 
a  vast  change  would  be  effected  in  the  morals  of 
the  community  if  the  saloons  were  closed  on  Sun- 
day! The  day  now  is  one  of  general  license,  and 
the  result  of  the  wholesale  consumption  of  liquor 
on  Sunday  is  appalling." 


THE  COMMON  WELFARE  83 

As  he  grew  older  his  dislike  for  the  liquor  busi- 
ness increased.  He  became  convinced  that  it  was 
one  of  the  country's  great  evils.  The  participa- 
tion of  the  liquor  interests  in  politics  further  in- 
censed him.  He  found  good  government  constantly 
menaced  by  their  opposition.  So,  in  1905,  he  de- 
cided to  accept  no  more  liquor  advertisements.  The 
sudden  cutting-off  of  so  large  a  source  of  revenue 
was  a  rather  serious  matter  from  a  business  stand- 
point, and  the  suggestion  was  made  to  him  that  it 
might  be  well  to  cut  out  the  whisky  advertise- 
ments, but  to  let  the  beer  advertisements  continue 
for  a  time  in  order  to  give  an  opportunity  to  get 
additional  business  to  take  their  place.  "  I  guess 
we  're  making  money  enough  without  them,"  was 
his  only  comment. 

As  a  result  of  his  experience  in  politics  and  busi- 
ness he  was  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  two 
reforms  whose  importance  had  not  been  widely 
noticed.  He  felt  that  to  permit  the  legitimate  ex- 
penses of  elections  to  be  borne  by  private  persons 
gave  the  power  to  big  interests  —  public  service 
corporations,  saloons,  protected  industries  and  the 
like  —  to  control  the  Government  through  their 
financing  of  elections.  As  to  the  courts,  he  became 


84         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

convinced  that  so  long  as  lawyers  were  privately 
paid,  legal  proceedings  would  be  merely  trials  of 
skill,  with  the  advantage  on  the  side  of  money.  So 
he  desired  that  the  Government  pay  all  election 
expenses  and  that  it  employ  the  lawyers  and  make 
them  paid  officers  of  the  court,  just  as  the  judge 
is.  He  set  forth  his  views  on  both  these  questions 
at  length  in  a  letter  to  his  friend,  Theodore  Roose- 
velt, in  1912.   He  wrote:  — 

As  to  general  policies  of  government  I  have  two 
hobbies.  My  scheme  is  to  drive  the  money  out  of 
the  voting-booth  and  out  of  the  court-house.  The 
Government  must  bear  the  entire  expense  of  all 
elections,  and  justice  must  be  really  —  and  not 
merely  nominally  —  free. 

If  our  form  of  government  is  to  remain  stable, 
justice  must  not  be  virtually  for  sale  as  it  is  today. 
One  of  the  places  where  the  poor  man  and  the  rich 
man  should  go  arm  in  arm  is  the  court-house. 

But  of  course  they  don't.  Aside  from  the  ad- 
vantages which  the  rich  man  has  in  our  cumber- 
some judicial  system,  and  in  the  personnel  of  the 
judges,  he  has  the  immense  advantage  of  the  abil- 
ity to  hire  the  best  lawyers.  The  first  threat  that 
the  rich  man  makes  to  the  poor  man  is  that  he 
will  get  the  best  lawyers  in  town.  Under  such 
conditions  it  is  absurd  to  talk  of  the  courts  meting 
out  justice. 


THE  COMMON  WELFARE  85 

Lawyers  are  now  regarded  as  officers  of  the 
court.  They  ought  to  be  paid  officers.  Their  sal- 
ary should  come  from  the  Government,  not  from 
private  litigants.  The  State  provides  the  judge  and 
jury.  It  ought  also  to  provide  the  lawyers.  So- 
ciety would  never  dream  of  permitting  one  of  the 
litigants  to  pay  the  judge.  It  ought  not  to  permit 
him  to  pay  another  officer  of  the  court  —  the 
lawyer. 

The  private  fee  system  promotes  all  sorts  of  in- 
cidental evils.  It  encourages  lawyers  to  make  legis- 
lation complicated  and  uncertain.  It  prevents  re- 
form of  judicial  procedure.  It  incites  the  stirring-up 
of  litigation.  When  a  suit  without  the  shadow  of 
merit  may  be  begun  by  merely  the  payment  of  a 
small  fee,  the  lawyer  is  under  constant  incentive  to 
instigate  legal  proceedings.  I  have  known  of  re- 
peated incidents  of  suits  threatened  against  doctors 
and  others  that  were  the  most  evident  blackmail. 
Under  the  existing  system  a  man's  reputation  is 
at  the  mercy  of  any  blackleg  who  cares  to  threaten 
it.  A  young  doctor  might  easily  be  ruined  by  a  suit 
charging  malpractice,  though  there  might  be  no 
foundation  to  it.  A  woman's  reputation  might  be 
blasted  by  the  mention  of  her  name  in  a  divorce 
proceeding  as  a  co-respondent.  Her  only  recourse 
would  be  a  lawsuit,  which  would  simply  augment 
the  injustice. 

A  situation  has  been  produced  by  which  it  is 
impossible  to  carry  out  any  business  transaction 


86         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

whatever  without  the  help  of  a  lawyer.  When  a 
man  dies  his  estate  is  regarded  as  the  legitimate 
prey  for  attorneys.  It  may  be  looted  with  im- 
punity. In  England  the  Government  has  estab- 
lished a  bureau  to  take  charge  of  estates  so  that 
the  man  of  small  means  may  have  the  assurance 
of  knowing  that  his  widow's  property  will  be  safe- 
guarded. In  this  country  we  divide  it  among  the 
lawyers.  The  fee  system  absolutely  bars  the  doing 
of  justice  between  the  rich  and  the  poor. 

Both  of  these  are  great  big  questions  and  I  have 
only  touched  the  fringes  of  them.  I  cannot  hope 
that  either  of  them  will  be  dealt  with  adequately 
in  my  lifetime,  or  perhaps  in  the  lifetime  of  the 
next  generation.  But  I  want  to  leave  them  as  a 
heritage  for  The  Star  to  deal  with  after  I  am  gone. 
It  is  my  desire  that  The  Star  shall  keep  hammer- 
ing on  them  until  equality  between  rich  and  poor 
in  the  selection  of  officials  and  in  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  shall  no  longer  be  a  sham. 


CHAPTER   IX 

AS    A    BUILDER 

"The  real  thing,"  was  a  favorite  phrase  of  Mr. 
Nelson's.  If  there  was  any  unusually  good  piece  of 
work  done  on  the  paper  his  praise  was,  "Now, 
that 's  the  real  thing."  If  a  man  had  come  forward 
in  some  crisis  he  would  exclaim  admiringly,  "  He  's 
the  real  thing." 

It  was  an  index  of  his  character.  He  could  not 
bear  anything  that  was  unsubstantial  or  shoddy  in 
any  department  of  human  activity.  This  feeling 
was  particularly  evident  in  his  extensive  building 
operations. 

All  his  life  Mr.  Nelson  was  a  builder.  He  built 
scores  of  houses,  and  he  once  remarked  that  he 
supposed  that  every  year  for  fifty  years  he  must 
have  built  at  least  two  miles  of  rock  road. 

"Building  houses,"  he  once  said,  "is  the  great- 
est fun  in  the  world." 

Architecture  was  one  of  his  hobbies.  He  de- 
signed his  home  and  virtually  designed  The  Star 
office  itself.  So  he  was  intensely  interested  in  every 


88         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

form  of  building  and  was  thoroughly  informed  on 
the  subject.  Somebody  once  asked  him  about  the 
lasting  qualities  of  frame  houses. 

"I  should  be  unhappy,"  he  replied,  "  if  I  thought 
the  frame  houses  I  have  built  will  not  be  as  good 
fifty  years  from  now  as  they  are  to-day." 

The  smallest  house  he  built  was  built  as  sub- 
stantially as  the  largest.  The  customary  practice, 
for  instance,  in  building  houses  of  moderate  size  is 
to  use  two-by-fours  as  uprights.  Mr.  Nelson  al- 
ways used  two-by-sixes  because  they  were  more 
substantial.  The  chimneys  he  built  were  set  in 
Portland  cement.  His  carpenters  were  instructed 
to  use  about  twice  the  number  of  nails  ordinarily 
used  in  building. 

Everything  that  he  did  was  done  in  the  same 
way.  As  he  often  said,  he  simply  could  n't  do  any- 
thing else. 

He  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  building  of  the 
homes  of  the  city.  He  had  a  strong  personal  pride 
in  the  fact  that  Kansas  City  was  known  as  a  "city 
of  beautiful  homes."  It  pleased  him  mightily  when 
some  visitor  from  another  city  would  speak  admir- 
ingly of  the  charming  parks  and  drives  and  homes 
of  Kansas  City. 


AS  A  BUILDER  89 

In  his  paper  he  encouraged  in  all  ways  the  build- 
ing of  fine  comfortable  homes  and  their  adorn- 
ment. 

His  interest  in  this  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
when  a  tornado  swept  through  the  city  of  Omaha, 
demolishing  many  frame  houses,  he  made  use  of 
the  incident  to  demonstrate  a  theory  of  his  that  any 
house  that  was  properly  built  would  withstand  the 
force  of  a  tornado.  He  sent  his  own  builder  to 
Omaha  and  found  this  to  be  true.  The  houses 
broken  by  the  winds  were  poorly  built.  Even 
frame  houses  that  were  properly  strengthened  by 
timbers  withstood  the  storm,  and  he  advocated,  in 
an  extended  campaign,  the  proper  strengthening 
of  all  houses  thereafter  built  in  Kansas  City,  so 
that  no  wind  might  blow  them  down. 

He  took  particular  delight  in  the  Georgian  archi- 
tecture of  New  England.  During  his  summer  ex- 
iles in  Magnolia  he  spent  much  time  in  driving 
about  the  country  observing  the  fine  old  houses. 

"  I  never  would  build  a  house,"  he  said,  "  unless 
I  had  authority  for  it  at  least  a  century  old.  You 
never  can  tell  whether  some  new  style  is  good. 
But  if  a  house  has  stood  a  century  and  still  is 
good,  you  can  be  pretty  sure  of  it." 


9o         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

He  got  his  inspiration  for  The  Star  Building  at 
Eighteenth  and  Grand  Avenue  from  the  McLean 
home  in  Washington.  Taking  an  early  morning 
walk  with  a  member  of  the  staff  he  stopped  and 
looked  over  the  tapestry  brick  home,  in  the  style 
of  the  Italian  Renaissance. 

"That's  what  we  want  for  our  new  building," 
he  said.  The  idea  never  left  his  mind.  Jarvis  Hunt, 
of  Chicago,  was  the  architect  to  whom  he  intrusted 
the  designing  of  the  building.  Mr.  Hunt  came  to 
Kansas  City  a  few  months  later  with  a  magnifi- 
cent water-color  painting  of  a  palatial  building  in 
marble.  He  set  it  up  in  The  Star  office,  where  it 
was  being  generally  admired  when  Mr.  Nelson 
came  in. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  it  ? "  was  the  general 
inquiry. 

"Oh,  it's  a  beautiful  building,  of  course,"  he 
replied.  "But  it  wouldn't  do  for  a  print  shop. 
You  couldn't  imagine  a  printer's  devil  all  covered 
with  ink  coming  running  out  of  a  marble  palace." 

"  Kick  a  hole  through  it,"  exclaimed  Hunt, 
throwing  up  his  hands.  "  Kick  a  hole  through  it ! 
Back  to  Chicago  for  me !  " 

The  adaptation  of  the  McLean  home  was  then 


AS  A  BUILDER  91 

worked  out  by  Mr.  Hunt  under  Mr.  Nelson's  su- 
pervision. 

Mr.  Nelson's  home  was  at  Oak  Hall,  which 
stands  within  grounds  some  thirty  acres  in  extent 
on  the  summit  and  slope  of  a  hill  overlooking 
Brush  Creek  Valley,  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
city.  By  addition  and  revision,  each  detail  of  which 
was  planned  and  directed  by  Mr.  Nelson  himself, 
the  house  grew  from  its  first  dimensions  in  1887 
to  its  present  size,  notable  for  its  architectural  dis- 
tinction, its  home-like  appearance  and  its  admirable 
suitability  to  its  situation.  When  the  site  was  se- 
lected, it  lay  two  miles  beyond  the  southern  city 
limits,  in  a  quarter  that  had  been  entirely  neglected 
as  a  residence  district,  reached  for  the  most  part 
along  unbroken  roads,  the  most  direct  route  to 
it  leading  through  farmers'  fields  and  an  old  or- 
chard. 

At  that  time  it  was  generally  believed  that  it 
would  be  many  years  before  the  city  would  reach 
that  far  south.  But  long  before  his  death  the  city 
was  built  up  far  beyond  it  to  the  south,  and  homes, 
among  the  finest  in  the  city,  were  in  its  neighbor- 
hood. The  last  extension  of  the  city's  limits  placed 
the  municipal  boundary  as  far  south  of  Oak  Hall 


92         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

as  Oak  Hall  was  south  of  the  limits  when  Mr. 
Nelson  chose  his  home-site. 

Oak  Hall  was  built  of  limestone  found  every- 
where in  and  around  Kansas  City.  It  is  a  stone 
peculiarly  adapted  in  color  to  the  surroundings 
of  Kansas  City.  When  he  decided  to  build  of  that 
stone,  builders  told  him  that  it  would  not  do ;  it 
would  crumble;  and  besides  no  one  had  ever  built 
with  it.  But  he  saw  its  inherent  beauty  and  adap- 
tability for  fitting  into  the  color  scheme  of  field 
and  foliage,  and  he  chose  it  for  his  building  ma- 
terial. 

The  result  was  so  successful  that  it  became  an 
example  to  Kansas  City  that  was  widely  followed. 

"  The  great  danger  in  building  large  houses," 
he  used  to  say,  "  is  that  they  look  like  a  palace 
or  like  a  public  institution.  I  have  tried  to  build 
mine  like  a  home." 

In  1907  Mr.  Nelson  completed  a  summer  resi- 
dence on  the  seashore  at  Magnolia,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  had  spent  several  summers  previously. 
There  he  and  his  family  went  to  live  during  the  hot 
season  in  Kansas  City.  His  treatment  of  this  house 
was  characteristic.  The  site  had  been  rejected  by 
other  possible  purchasers  because  it  was  low  and 


AS  A  BUILDER  93 

swampy.  These  very  qualities  appealed  to  him. 
He  saw  the  picturesque  possibilities  of  the  place 
and  designed  a  colonial  dwelling  standing  several 
feet  below  the  street  level.  Its  long,  sweeping  roof 
lines  harmonized  with  the  slope  of  the  ground  and 
made  possible  a  wonderfully  attractive  garden  front 
looking  out  over  the  ocean. 

His  building  instinct  showed  again  when  he  de- 
termined to  build  a  yacht.  The  conventional  pleas- 
ure yachts  did  not  interest  him.  He  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  Gloucester  fishermen  must  have 
developed  the  most  practical  and  comfortable  type 
of  vessel.  So  to  the  horror  of  his  fellow-members 
of  the  Eastern  Yacht  Club  he  committed  the  con- 
struction of  his  schooner  to  a  Gloucester  builder 
of  fishermen.  Certain  modifications  he  planned  in 
the  interest  of  comfort  and  space.  The  Glouces- 
ter builders  shied  at  these  modifications,  which 
were  contrary  to  their  traditions,  so  the  yacht's 
owner  brought  on  a  carpenter  from  Kansas  City 
who  constructed  the  innovational  part  of  the  boat. 
The  yacht  was  named  the  Hoosier,  with  Gloucester 
as  its  home  port,  and  the  marine  writers  called  the 
Hoosier  of  Gloucester  "the  glorified  fisherman." 

The  judgment  of  Mr.  Nelson  as  a  yacht  de- 


94         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

signer  was  fully  justified  when  the  Hoosier  on  its 
first  cruise  with  the  Eastern  Yacht  Club  won  the 
cup  with  some  of  the  fastest  sailing  yachts  of  the 
Atlantic  Coast  as  contestants.  After  that,  all  up  and 
down  Cape  Ann  he  was  known  as  the  owner  of  the 
Hoosier.  The  Kansas  City  Star  did  not  exist  for 
the  fisher  folk.  But  they  knew  all  about  the  yacht 
designed  on  the  lines  of  a  Gloucester  fisherman. 

In  1902  he  built  in  the  East  Bottoms  a  paper 
mill  of  capacity  to  make  all  the  white  paper  used 
in  issuing  The  Daily  and  Weekly  Star.  A  year 
earlier  the  paper  trust  had  taken  advantage  of  the 
fact  that  The  Star's  unforeseen  growth  in  size  and 
circulation  had  made  necessary  the  purchase  of 
considerably  more  paper  than  had  been  contracted 
for  as  the  year's  supply.  The  trust  raised  the  price 
on  the  added  quantity,  and  with  no  gentle  hand. 
On  the  day  notice  of  the  increased  price  reached 
the  office  of  The  Star,  and  was  relayed  to  Mr. 
Nelson,  who  was  taking  a  vacation,  he  wired: 
"  We  must  have  our  own  paper  mill." 

He  did  build  his  own  paper  mill,  and  made  his 
own  paper  until  the  condition  of  the  market  for 
ground  wood  pulp,  of  which  paper  is  manufac- 
tured, would  have  necessitated  the  building  of  his 


AS  A  BUILDER  95 

own  pulp  mill  in  Canada.  This  he  declined  to  do, 
owing  to  advancing  age  and  the  added  burdens 
which  that  venture  would  have  put  upon  him. 

His  father  had  been  one  of  the  first  Western 
importers  of  Shorthorn  cattle.  In  the  late  '90s 
Mr.  Nelson  bought  a  farm  south  of  his  home  and 
began  building  up  a  herd  of  Shorthorns.  It  was  a 
matter  of  great  pride  with  him  that  one  of  the 
bulls  bred  on  his  farm,  King  Edward  VII,  was  jun- 
ior champion  of  Shorthorns  at  the  St.  Louis  World's 
Fair. 

This  farm  he  disposed  of  when  he  undertook  the 
development  of  The  Star's  morning  edition.  But 
he  returned  to  his  farm  love  three  years  before  his 
death,  when  he  purchased  the  Sni-a-Bar  farms 
near  Grain  Valley,  about  thirty  miles  from  Kansas 
City.  He  took  the  greatest  delight  in  the  building 
of  barns  and  sheds  and  in  the  remodeling  of  the 
farmhouse  that  stood  on  the  place. 

This  he  made  a  real  farmhouse  —  a  low,  ram- 
bling, one-story  building  surrounded  by  a  white 
picket  fence. 

The  farms  were  devoted  to  stock-raising,  and 
he  began  once  more  with  his  old  enthusiasm  to 
build  up  a  new  herd  of  beef  cattle.  He  had  long 


96         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

held  the  theory  that  superior  animals  could  be  pro- 
duced by  mating  choice,  pure-bred  Shorthorn  bulls 
with  the  best  of  native  cows.  In  England  five  pure- 
bred crosses  entitle  the  product  of  the  last  breed- 
ing to  registry  by  the  Shorthorn  Association.  In 
America  the  pedigree  must  trace  back  to  an  im- 
ported cow.  He  bought  the  best  cows  he  could 
secure  at  the  Kansas  City  Stock  Yards  and  put  his 
theory  into  practice,  believing  that,  with  careful 
culling  of  the  inferior  cows  produced  from  them 
and  their  progeny,  he  could  in  five  generations 
produce  animals  that  would  rank  up  with,  if  not 
surpass,  as  beef  producers  the  registered  Short- 
horn. He  always  used  white  bulls,  for  he  had  fond 
boyhood  recollections  of  a  prize  white  Shorthorn 
steer  which  his  father  raised  and  fed.  On  his  sev- 
enteen hundred  and  fifty  acres  at  Grain  Valley 
were  more  than  five  hundred  cattle. 

These  farms  and  their  equipment  he  gave  to  the 
people,  to  be  used  for  their  benefit  after  his  death. 


CHAPTER  X 

AS    A    LOVER    OF    HUMANITY 

The  Board  of  Public  Welfare  once  had  an  ordi- 
nance drawn  to  revise  the  building  regulations  of 
Kansas  City  and  to  compel  landlords  to  let  light 
and  air  into  windowless  rooms.  Its  defeat  in  the 
Council  angered  Mr.  Nelson,  and  he  called  over  a 
reporter. 

"  I  want  you,"  he  said,  "  to  go  out  and  burn 
down  those  rotten  tenements.  That  is  your  assign- 
ment.  Don't  let  up  until  it 's  done." 

That  was  the  sort  of  crusade  Mr.  Nelson  took 
the  greatest  delight  in.  It  was  rare  that  The  Star 
did  not  have  something  of  the  sort  on  hand.  In 
the  winter  of  1898,  just  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  Spanish- American  War,  The  Star  sent  a  re- 
porter to  Cuba  to  investigate  the  reports  of  star- 
vation among  the  non-combatants  there.  He  found 
in  the  city  of  Matanzas  "  starvation  an  actual, 
hideous  fact."  He  reported  that  "ten  thousand 
men,  women,  and  children  were  suffering  in  naked- 
ness and  in  the  constant  presence  of  death,  the 


98         WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

misery  of  hunger,"  and  that  fifty  persons  a  day 
actually  were  starving  to  death. 

The  Star  at  once  made  an  appeal  for  relief.  A 
building  in  Kansas  City  was  rented  for  receipt  of 
supplies.  President  McKinley  warmly  commended 
The  Star's  "Cuban  Starvation  Relief "  plan  and 
promised  that  the  Government  would  help  fur- 
nish a  ship  to  carry  the  supplies  to  Cuba.  The 
Kansas  City,  Fort  Scott  &  Memphis  Railway  of- 
fered to  transport  the  supplies  from  Kansas  City 
to  New  Orleans.  Eight  days  after  the  announce- 
ment in  The  Star  of  the  plan  of  relief  a  train  of 
twenty-one  cars,  loaded  with  five  hundred  tons  of 
food  and  clothing,  started  from  Kansas  City,  and 
other  cars  followed  a  few  days  later.  The  steamer 
Utstein  was  chartered,  and  it  carried  eight  hundred 
tons  of  supplies  and  twelve  thousand  dollars  in 
cash  to  the  starving  people  of  Matanzas. 

Several  years  later  a  man,  then  wealthy  and 
prominent  in  Cuba,  called  at  the  office  of  The 
Star  to  thank  Mr.  Nelson  for  that  relief.  It  had 
saved  the  lives  of  his  mother  and  sisters. 

The  unfortunate  poor  and  the  maniacs  of  Kan- 
sas City  and  Jackson  County  were  herded  together 
in  a  ramshackle  old  poorhouse,  which  was  filthy, 


AS  A  LOVER  OF  HUMANITY  99 

insanitary,  and  uncomfortable  beyond  description. 
Men  and  women  with  minds  unbalanced  were 
chained  to  walls  reeking  with  dampness  and  slime. 

In  his  youth  Mr.  Nelson  had  seen  an  aged  man 
reduced  from  prosperity  to  poverty  and  want,  and 
had  seen  that  man  apply  for  admission  to  the  poor- 
house. 

"  I  paid  taxes  all  my  life  to  help  support  that 
poorhouse;  why  shouldn't  I  end  my  days  there ?" 
the  man  said,  with  dignity. 

The  incident  made  a  deep  impression  upon  Mr. 
Nelson,  and,  when,  early  in  his  editorship  of  The 
Star,  he  discovered  the  conditions  in  the  Jackson 
County  Poorhouse,  he  began  a  campaign  to  cor- 
rect them.  It  was  his  theory  that  the  insane  should 
go  to  the  state  hospitals  provided  for  them,  where 
they  would  be  properly  cared  for,  and  that  the  poor- 
house should  be  a  place  where  old  folks  would  be 
comfortable  and  kindly  treated  in  every  way,  and 
he  preached  that  insistently.  It  would  seem,  in  this 
day,  that  it  would  be  necessary  only  to  point  out 
the  conditions  and  they  would  be  remedied,  but  that 
was  not  the  case.  The  reform  was  bitterly  opposed, 
and  it  was  years  before  the  insane  of  Jackson  county 
were  sent  to  the  state  hospitals,  and  before  a  new, 


loo       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

commodious,  sanitary,  and  comfortable  "County 
Home"  was  built  for  the  poor,  as  a  result  of  The 
Star's  campaign. 

Then  The  Star  extended  its  plea  for  reform  in 
poor-farm  conditions  to  the  entire  States  of  Mis- 
souri and  Kansas,  with  gratifying  results. 

In  1 886,  six  years  after  the  founding  of  The  Star, 
Mr.  Nelson  originated  "The  Santa  Claus  Fund," 
and  that  year  the  fund  amounted  to  $935-95- 
With  this  two  thousand  toys  and  two  thousand 
packets  of  candy  were  bought,  and,  while  Santa 
Claus' s  back  was  momentarily  turned,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pairs  of  shoes  were  added  by  The  Star's 
owner.  The  city  circulation  staff  of  The  Star  had 
sought  out  the  children  most  deserving  of  the  gifts 
and  prepared  lists  of  them  so  that  the  distribution 
of  them  early  Christmas  morning  was  quickly  and 
accurately  accomplished.  The  plan  finally  had  to 
be  abandoned  because  in  a  few  years  it  had  grown 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  became  impossible  to  make 
the  distribution  through  The  Star. 

Later  the  same  idea  was  applied  in  the  "  Good 
Fellow"  movement,  through  which  generous- 
hearted  people  were  brought  into  contact  with 
needy  families  at  Christmas-time. 


AS  A  LOVER  OF  HUMANITY         101 

Under  his  direction  The  Star  was  constantly  the 
greatest  asset  of  every  organization  that  desired 
to  raise  funds  for  public  purposes.  The  Y.M.C.A., 
Swope  Settlement,  the  Boys'  Hotel,  the  Provident 
Association  received  notable  help  from  his  news- 
paper. Indeed,  it  came  to  be  a  recognized  prelim- 
inary of  every  important  money-raising  campaign 
in  Kansas  City  to  enlist  first  the  support  of  The 
Star.  Without  its  support  there  was  a  feeling  that 
nothing  could  be  done.  The  raising  of  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  as  Kansas  City's  contribution  to  the 
Red  Cross  was  one  of  the  last  enterprises  of  this 
sort  to  engage  his  attention.  He  was  especially  con- 
cerned in  it,  because  his  daughter  was  at  the  head 
of  the  local  Red  Cross  organization.  His  interest 
made  it  possible  for  Kansas  City  to  far  outstrip 
every  other  city  in  the  amount  raised  in  proportion 
to  population. 

His  private  benefactions  were  extensive.  They 
reached  out  to  include  the  care  of  his  mother's  old 
household  servants,  a  school  teacher  of  his  youth, 
and  any  number  of  others  who  appealed  in  various 
ways  to  his  sympathies.  In  his  last  years,  when  he 
felt  obliged  to  turn  his  charities  over  to  others  to 
administer,  he  reserved  the  privilege  of  personally 


102       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

meeting  the  sisters  of  the  various  Catholic  orders 
who  made  regular  visits  to  solicit  funds.  The  vast 
organization  of  the  Catholic  Church  appealed  pow- 
erfully to  his  imagination,  and  the  fact  that  he  had 
seen  Sisters  of  Charity  in  every  part  of  the  world 
gave  him  an  especial  interest  in  their  work. 

Among  those,  not  on  the  regular  staff,  who  wrote 
occasionally  for  The  Star  at  space  rates,  was  a 
woman  in  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  whose  first  name 
is  Mary  and  whose  last  name  is  not  material.  A 
check  in  payment  for  her  work  at  the  end  of  the 
month  was  sent  to  her,  but  it  went  astray  in  the 
mail  and  turned  up  at  the  home  of  another  woman 
of  the  same  name,  but  of  very  poor  circumstances. 
At  this  Mary's  home  a  big  family  of  children  was 
hungry  and  the  rent  was  not  paid.  She  cashed  the 
check  and  spent  it  for  the  family's  wants. 

In  due  course  of  time  the  missing  money  was 
learned  about  and  the  police  were  asked  to  inves- 
tigate. Soon  thereafter  two  policemen  appeared  at 
the  office  with  the  erring  Mary. 

"This  is  the  woman  who  stole  the  money,"  one 
of  the  officers  said. 

"What  was  the  trouble,  Mary?"  Mr.  Nelson 
asked. 


AS  A  LOVER  OF  HUMANITY         103 

"  I  always  heard  you  were  a  kind  and  charitable 
man,  Mr.  Nelson,"  she  said.  "I  thought  you  knew 
the  rent  was  not  paid  and  the  children  were  hun- 
gry and  I  thought  you  meant  the  money  for  me. 
The  check  was  made  out  in  my  name." 

"Well,  I  did  mean  the  money  for  you,"  Mr. 
Nelson  said,  grasping  the  situation  quickly.  "  How 
are  the  children  to-day,  Mary?" 


CHAPTER   XI 

IN    THE    NATIONAL    FIELD 

Under  Mr.  Nelson's  editorship  The  Star  was  an 
intensely  local  publication.  It  assumed  that  its  read- 
ers were  more  interested  in  an  automobile  accident 
on  Grand  Avenue  than  in  a  change  in  the  French 
Cabinet.  But  it  was  inevitable  that  a  man  of  his 
instinct  for  affairs  should  make  his  influence  felt 
in  the  national  field. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  Mark  Sullivan,  editor 
of  Collier's,  wrote  :  — 

Mr.  Nelson  was  much  more  than  merely  a  great 
newspaper  man.  He  was  one  of  the  dozen  impor- 
tant personalities  of  his  time  in  America.  The  liberal 
and  progressive  movement  which  arose  in  the  Mid- 
dle West  between  ten  and  twenty  years  ago  and 
came  to  dominate  the  political  and  social  forces  of 
the  period  centered  largely  around  The  Kansas 
City  Star  and  the  other  forces  of  public  opinion 
which  took  their  leadership  from  The  Star. 

How  he  came  first  to  take  a  hand  in  national 
affairs  already  has  been  told.  His  service  as  Indiana 


IN  THE  NATIONAL  FIELD  105 

manager  for  Tilden  was  his  initiation.  The  failure 
of  the  Democratic  Party  to  renominate  Tilden  in 
1880  convinced  him  that  there  was  no  more  sin- 
cerity in  the  Democratic  than  in  the  Republican 
organization.  His  feeling  was  expressed  in  The  Star 
regarding  the  nomination  of  Grover  Cleveland  in 
1884.  That  nomination,  he  said,  "was  the  first 
evidence  of  moral  courage  on  the  part  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic leaders  since  the  convention  of  1 876."  The 
editorial  continued :  — 

The  opposition  to  the  nomination  of  Cleveland 
by  the  Tammanyites  and  plug-uglies  of  his  own 
State,  instead  of  intimidating  the  ordinarily  cow- 
ardly Democrats,  greatly  to  the  surprise  of  many 
who  had  no  confidence  in  the  courage  or  honesty 
of  the  Democratic  Party,  seemed  to  stimulate  the 
convention  to  a  realization  of  its  duty,  and  the  great 
reformer  who  had  the  nerve  and  backbone,  in  the 
discharge  of  his  official  duty  as  Governor  of  New 
York,  to  antagonize  the  most  powerful  organiza- 
tion within  the  Democratic  Party,  was  made  the 
candidate.  Cleveland,  because  of  his  independent 
and  courageous  course  as  Governor  of  New  York, 
has  won  the  confidence  of  independent,  thoughtful 
Republicans  as  well  as  the  better  class  of  men 
within  his  own  party,  and  he  will  start  in  the  cam- 
paign with  the  belief  in  the  minds  of  most  persons 
that  his  election  is  assured. 


io6       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

From  that  time  on  he  was  a  devoted  supporter 
of  Cleveland.  The  new  President's  espousal  of  the 
cause  of  tariff  reform  was  additional  reason  for  his 
enthusiasm.. 

In  The  Star's  earlier  years  the  country,  and  par- 
ticularly the  West,  was  not  familiar  with  the  idea 
of  a  non-partisan  newspaper.  It  was  assumed  that 
a  newspaper  must  be  a  party  organ,  and  the  inde- 
pendent paper  was  under  suspicion.  The  Star  gave 
its  readers  a  frightful  jolt  when  in  1892  it  sup- 
ported Cleveland  for  President,  and  a  Republican, 
Major  William  Warner,  for  Governor.  Twelve 
years  later  it  repeated,  by  supporting  Roosevelt 
for  President  and  Joseph  W.  Folk,  Democrat,  for 
Governor.  The  same  year  it  supported  the  Re- 
publican candidate  for  Governor  of  Kansas.  But 
finding  his  record  disappointing  it  made  a  vigor- 
ous campaign  for  the  Democratic  candidate  in 
1906.  The  Democratic  Party  in  Kansas  was  not 
in  good  standing  at  that  time.  It  had  been  identi- 
fied with  the  movement  to  repeal  the  prohibition 
amendment.  But  it  had  nominated  a  man  of  fine 
character,  Senator  W.  A.  Harris.  He  was  not 
elected.  But  the  majority  of  the  Republican  nominee 
was  cut  from  seventy  thousand  to  two  thousand. 


IN  THE  NATIONAL  FIELD  107 

In  the  free  silver  campaign  and  the  campaign  of 
1900  on  the  "paramount  issue"  of  "imperialism," 
The  Star  mildly  favored  the  Republican  ticket. 
But  Mr.  Nelson's  distrust  of  what  he  regarded  as 
the  party  of  special  privilege  was  so  great  that  he 
could  not  give  enthusiastic  support. 

The  campaign  of  1900  happened  by  a  chance 
of  travel  to  bring  him  into  personal  contact  with  a 
man  whose  qualities  and  ideals  were  strikingly  like 
his  own  and  to  whose  cause  he  was  devoted  for  the 
rest  of  his  life.  Theodore  Roosevelt  had  first  at- 
tracted his  attention  particularly  as  a  fighting  civil 
service  commissioner.  A  fighter  was  a  man  after 
his  own  heart,  and  he  watched  the  career  of  the 
young  New  Yorker  with  growing  interest.  In 
1898,  when  Roosevelt  was  elected  Governor  of 
New  York,  Mr.  Nelson  was  intensely  concerned 
in  the  campaign.  Shortly  before  the  election  he 
was  lunching  with  friends  at  the  Lawyers'  Club  in 
New  York  City.  One  of  the  notables  at  the  table 
expressed  the  opinion  that  Judge  Van  Wyck,  Roose- 
velt's opponent,  would  have  a  walkover.  "Why 
do  you  think  so?"  Mr.  Nelson  inquired.  "Oh," 
said  his  friend,  with  a  sweeping  gesture  over  the 
noble  assemblage  of  millionaires  present,  "  all  these 


io8       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

people  are  for  him."  "Indeed,"  said  Mr.  Nelson, 
standing  up  to  look  over  the  crowd,  "and  how 
many  of  ' these  people'  are  there?" 

Personal  acquaintance  with  Roosevelt  ripened 
into  a  warm  friendship.  When  he  gave  his  friend- 
ship he  gave  it  without  reserve.  For  argument's 
sake  he  might  admit  that  his  friend  was  fallible. 
But  he  never  found  fault.  "  When  you  've  got  a 
big,  courageous  man  going  your  way,"  he  would 
say,  "don't  be  critical."  "When  I'm  for  a  man 
I'm  fur  him,"  was  a  favorite  expression.. 

Later  he  was  charmed  by  the  personality  of 
President  Roosevelt's  Secretary  of  War.  The  Star 
became  the  leader  of  the  Taft  forces  in  the  South- 
west as  the  canvass  for  the  nomination  approached, 
and  its  efforts  largely  insured  the  Missouri  and 
Kansas  delegations  for  Taft.  When  the  special 
session  was  convoked  to  revise  the  tariff,  Mr.  Nel- 
son looked  forward  to  the  consummation  of  his  long- 
deferred  hopes  for  tariff  revision.  The  outcome 
was  a  bitter  disappointment.  But  it  was  not  until 
the  Winona  speech  that  he  became  convinced  that 
the  President's  position  was  such  that  he  could  no 
longer  support  him. 

With  others  he  hoped  a  new  progressive  lead- 


IN  THE  NATIONAL  FIELD  109 

ership  would  come  up  within  the  Republican  Party. 
But  as  time  went  on  he  felt  increasingly  that  there 
was  only  one  man  who  could  unite  the  progressive 
forces.  He  had  kept  in  close  touch  with  Colonel 
Roosevelt.  He  was  one  of  the  men  to  whom  the 
colonel  had  written  from  the  Upper  Nile  asking 
for  information  and  advice  regarding  the  situation 
at  home.  The  colonel's  participation  in  the  New 
York  State  campaign  of  1 9 1  o  as  leader  of  a  forlorn 
hope  in  behalf  of  the  progressive  movement  had 
aroused  his  admiration.  One  of  his  editorials  at  this 
time  evoked  a  playful  remonstrance  from  his  old 
friend,  Henry  Watterson,  in  the  Louisville  Courier- 
Journal.  They  had  been  closely  associated  in  the 
Tilden  campaign,  and  later  had  been  much  together 
in  Paris.  Mr.  Nelson's  reply,  printed  in  The  Star 
with  the  signature,  "  W.  R.  N.,"  gives  an  insight 
into  his  own  attitude  toward  political  life,  as  well 
as  into  his  relations  with  his  intimates.  As  in  the 
case  of  everything  that  came  from  him,  he  fur- 
nished the  ideas  and  many  of  the  phrases.  The 
actual  composition  was  done  in  the  office.  Colonel 
Watterson' s  editorial  ended :  — 

And,  by  the  way,  William,  old  sport,  how  comes 
it  that  you,  an  old-fashioned  Democrat  of  the  tariff- 


no 


WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 


for-revenue-only  species,  having  repudiated  Bryan, 
e'en  accept  the  Bryanization  of  Roosevelt,  with  a 
few  extra  frills  of  centralization,  piousness,  and 
arbitrary  power  ?  As  a  maker  of  Presidents  and 
Men-on-Horseback,  dear  Bill,  we  fear  you  are  not 
a  success.  William,  we  looks  toward  you ! 

Here  is  the  reply :  — 

And  to'a'ds  yo'self,  Henry  Watterson — with 
admiration  undiluted  and  affection  unimpaired,  even 
by  your  ribald  mockery.  For,  come  to  think  of  it, 
who  may  you  be,  that  you  should  p'int  a  disparag- 
ing finger  hitherward  and  speak  despitefully  of 
President-making  ?  Were  not  you  and  I  involved 
together  in  the  inspiring  game  of  planning  presi- 
dencies for  this  glorious  Republic,  so  far  back 
yonder  that  maybe  you  '11  pretend  to  disremember 
our  early  adventures  in  that  peerless  sport  ?  Did 
we  not  foregather,  in  '72,  in  brilliant  conspiracy 
to  soothe  and  charm  the  Nation  with  a  candidate 
who  should  wear  in  his  bosom  the  confidence  of 
the  worthy  majorities  of  all  parties  and  blend  anew 
the  broken  bonds  between  the  States  —  that  great 
enterprise,  high  of  motive  and  hard  of  luck,  that 
got  into  the  wrong  and  lonesome  pew  with  H.  G. 
—  may  the  good  soul  of  him  rest  in  peace !  Did 
not  we  —  you  and  I,  Henry — shout  together  in  the 
radiant  phalanx  that  swept  Samuel  J.  Tilden  past 
the  ballot  boxes  ?  And  did  we  not  brandish  swords 
and  yell  in  unison  when  we  could  n't  get  him  any 


IN  THE  NATIONAL  FIELD  1 1 1 

further  —  even  though  you  and  your  "  hundred 
thousand  Kentuckians  "  were  ready  and  eager  to 
ensanguinate  the  path  ahead?  Did  n't  we  rally 
again  and  declare,  with  all  the  voice  left  in  us,  that 
Vindication  by  Renomination  was  the  one  inexor- 
able duty  of  the  baffled  Democracy  toward  the 
outraged  Nation?  And  didn't  we  sulk  in  our  tents 
to  beat  the  band  when  the  convention  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  our  outcry?  And  —  since  you  are  rash 
enough,  O  Henry  of  the  Unjust  Jibe !  to  speak  in 
terms  that  may  signify  the  actual  making  of  Presi- 
dents as  well  as  merely  the  projectin'  'round  in 
fields  where  Presidents  might  lie  dormant  —  did 
not  we  embrace  and  part  in  sorrow,  when  you 
lost  step  in  the  Cleveland  cavalcade,  and  fell  by 
the  wayside,  among  the  thorns,  while  I  marched 
on,  undismayed  and  rejoicing,  through  twelve  years 
of  prideful  allegiance  ? 

The  march  of  events  forced  the  progressives  to 
turn  to  Roosevelt  to  head,  once  more,  the  national 
forward-looking  forces.  Mr.  Nelson  was  one  of 
those  to  whose  urging  the  former  President  finally 
gave  a  reluctant  consent.  The  circumstances  lead- 
ing up  to  the  formation  of  the  Progressive  Party 
completed  his  conviction  that  the  Republican  man- 
agement was  hopelessly  reactionary.  From  Chicago 
before  the  national  convention  convened  he  out- 
lined a  dispatch  to  The  Star  predicting  the  forma- 


112       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

tion  of  a  new  party  dedicated  to  human  rights.  So 
when  the  Progressive  Party  was  organized  he  vio- 
lated his  rule  and  permitted  his  name  to  be  signed 
to  the  call,  as  representative  of  Missouri.  The  Star 
had  urged  on  the  Democratic  Party  the  necessity 
of  nominating  Woodrow  Wilson  as  a  progressive 
Democrat.  It  would  have  supported  Wilson  had 
the  choice  been  between  him  and  a  reactionary  Re- 
publican. Under  the  circumstances,  however,  the 
support  of  Roosevelt  and  the  Progressive  ticket  was 
inevitable.  The  fact  that  there  seemed  no  possible 
chance  of  success  did  not  detract  from  the  vigor 
of  The  Star's  campaign.  It  was  characteristic  of 
Mr.  Nelson  that  as  soon  as  the  organization  of  the 
new  party  was  under  way,  he  insisted  on  retiring 
from  his  position  of  temporary  national  committee- 
man. He  would  not  suffer  his  newspaper's  inde- 
pendence of  action  to  be  handicapped  by  his  iden- 
tification with  any  party.  After  the  election  he 
supported  the  Wilson  Administration  in  its  pro- 
gressive policies  just  as  vigorously  as  he  had  sup- 
ported the  Roosevelt  Administration. 

A  word  may  be  said  regarding  his  feeling  to- 
ward public  office.  He  held  strongly  that  a  news- 
paper editor  had  no  business  ever  to  have  anything 


IN  THE  NATIONAL  FIELD  113 

to  do  with  political  patronage  or  office-holding. 
He  was  excessively  annoyed  when  the  story  got 
about  that  he  might  be  appointed  ambassador  to 
some  European  capital  by  one  of  the  Presidents 
he  had  supported.  Once,  when  such  reports  were 
particularly  insistent,  he  printed  an  editorial  recog- 
nizing them  and  setting  forth  his  position.  The 
editor  of  The  Star,  he  said,  was  "amply  sustained" 
by  his  present  job,  and  "  regarded  himself  as  hold- 
ing a  place  of  greater  responsibility  and  usefulness 
than  any  within  the  gift  of  the  President  or  the 
electorate." 

On  several  occasions  friends  appealed  for  his  in- 
fluence in  gaining  them  political  appointments. 
His  invariable  reply — usually  received  incredu- 
lously—  was  that  never  in  his  life  had  he  asked 
for  a  political  appointment  for  anybody ;  that  if  he 
were  consulted  he  would  be  glad  to  give  his  opin- 
ion, but  that  he  never  had  volunteered  advice. 
This  was  the  exact  truth.  Once  he  stretched  his 
rule  so  far  as  to  urge  the  retention  of  an  efficient 
postmaster  who  was  supported  by  all  the  business 
organizations  of  the  town,  but  whose  removal  was 
demanded  by  dissatisfied  politicians.  Once  or  twice 
he  sent  warnings  to  Cabinet  officers  that  certain 


n4       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

contemplated  appointments  were  bad.  And  on  one 
historic  occasion  he  almost  broke  with  the  Roose- 
velt Administration  because  the  First  Assistant 
Postmaster-General  succeeded  in  dismissing  the 
postmaster  at  Weston,  Missouri,  for  following  The 
Star's  advice  and  supporting  Roosevelt  for  Presi- 
dent and  Folk  for  Governor.  The  postmaster  wrote 
to  The  Star  of  the  impending  peril,  and  Mr.  Nel- 
son took  up  his  case  with  the  greatest  vigor.  But 
the  removal  had  been  made  before  his  protest 
reached  Washington. 

"People  have  an  idea,"  he  used  to  say,  "that  I 
lie  awake  nights  fixing  up  slates  for  Presidents  to 
O.  K.  The  fact  is  that  the  only  job  I  ever  really 
went  after,  that  measly  little  post-office  at  Weston, 
I  didn't  get." 


CHAPTER   XII 

AS    A    NEWSPAPER    MAKER 

Mr.  Nelson  was  primarily  a  great  editor.  Every- 
thing else  with  him  was  a  side  issue.  His  life  was 
concentrated  in  The  Star.  His  success  he  some- 
times playfully  attributed  to  the  fact  that  he  did  not 
go  into  journalism  until  he  was  nearly  forty  years 
old.  This  meant,  of  course,  that  he  brought  to  his 
work  the  viewpoint  of  the  reader  rather  than  that 
of  the  technical  newspaper  man. 

This  outside  attitude  showed  itself  in  what  was, 
perhaps,  his  most  spectacular  journalistic  innova- 
tion— the  twice-a-day  service  which  The  Star  be- 
gan in  1901.  The  necessity  for  modern  life  of  the 
morning  and  afternoon  paper  had  been  demon- 
strated. It  was  left  for  him  to  recognize  that  two 
papers  independently  edited  did  not  meet  the 
needs  of  the  reader.  For  the  morning  paper  was 
sure  to  carry  material  which  had  appeared  in  the 
paper  of  the  previous  afternoon,  and  the  afternoon 
paper  to  rehash  news  that  had  appeared  in  the 
morning.   As  he  considered  the  problem  after  his 


n6       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

purchase  of  The  Times  he  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  ideal  service  for  the  reader  would  be  an 
afternoon  paper  with  the  news  of  the  day  as  nearly 
complete  as  possible,  to  be  followed  by  a  morning 
bulletin  sheet,  which  should  carry  only  the  later 
developments.  It  would  be  possible,  he  decided, 
for  The  Star  to  shoulder  the  burden  of  supplying 
this  morning  bulletin  service  to  its  readers  free. 
Eventually  he  hoped  the  advertising  patronage 
would  pay  for  the  service,  and  perhaps  more. 
That  was  for  the  future  to  show. 

A  factor  in  his  decision  was  the  advent  of  the 
"comic  supplement"  in  yellow  journalism.  He 
felt  that  the  "  comics "  would  be  popular.  But  he 
detested  them  as  inartistic  and  vulgar.  He  repeat- 
edly said  that  he  would  shut  up  shop  before  he 
would  publish  anything  of  the  sort.  The  publica- 
tion of  the  morning  edition  with  no  increase  in 
price  appealed  to  him  as  offering  a  way  out.  It 
would  be  giving  the  readers  of  The  Star  some- 
thing far  better  than  the  "  comics,"  and  so  would 
tend  to  forestall  future  competition. 

"When  your  competitor  puts  on  a  new  front 
doorstep,"  he  once  said,  "you  should  build  a  com- 
plete new  front  to  your  establishment."  The  new 


AS  A  NEWSPAPER  MAKER  117 

service  was  one  of  the  most  daring  adventures  ever 
made  in  the  American  newspaper  field.  But  after 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  on  the  merits  of  the  plan 
he  never  was  troubled  with  doubts  as  to  the  out- 
come. "Believe  in  the  people,"  he  would  say. 
"No  man  with  even  ordinary  judgment  ever  went 
wrong  in  assuming  that  the  people  will  support 
the  best  that  can  be  furnished  them.  Human  na- 
ture is  made  that  way." 

The  innovation  met  the  situation  in  exactly  the 
way  he  had  expected.  But  the  advertising  patron- 
age increased  so  that  the  morning  edition  soon  de- 
veloped into  much  more  than  the  bulletin  service 
he  originally  had  in  mind  and  became  a  complete 
newspaper. 

The  same  attitude  was  shown  in  his  establishing 
of  The  Weekly  Kansas  City  Star.  It  was  founded, 
not  to  make  money,  but  to  fight  for  tariff  reform. 
"I  took  pencil  and  paper,"  he  said,  "and  figured 
that  we  could  afford  to  print  a  four-page  farm 
weekly  for  twenty-five  cents  a  year.  Nobody  else 
had  ever  done  it.  But  I  felt  that  it  was  possible,  that 
we  were  in  a  position  to  do  it,  and  that  we  ought 
to  do  it.  For  we  had  a  lot  to  say  to  the  farmers  and 
we  weren't  reaching  them  through  the  daily." 


n8       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

Three  important  innovations  in  American  news- 
paper making  for  which  he  was  responsible  were 
these :  The  supplying  of  seven  papers  to  subscrib- 
ers for  ten  cents  a  week;  the  twice-a-day  service 
with  thirteen  papers  with  no  increase  01  price ;  the 
publication  of  a  complete  farm  weekly  at  twenty- 
five  cents  a  year. 

His  significance  in  the  newspaper  world  was 
recognized  by  publishers  everywhere.  In  1902- 
03  he  was  vice-president  of  the  Associated  Press, 
and  he  served  on  the  board  of  directors  for  the 
nine  years  from  1905  to  1914,  when  he  insisted  on 
retiring. 

But  his  whole  attitude  toward  the  problems  of 
the  newspaper  was  more  revolutionary  than  any 
one  thing  he  did.  "  Always  keep  in  mind  the  family 
that  is  paying  us  ten  cents  a  week  —  and  particu- 
larly its  women  members,"  was  his  constant  ad- 
monition to  his  associates.  He  felt  there  was  con- 
stant danger  of  "shooting  over  the  heads  of  the 
readers,"  as  he  was  fond  of  expressing  it.  He 
wanted  The  Star  to  be  always  entertaining,  always 
fresh  and  vivacious,  always  looked  forward  to  with 
pleasure  in  the  ordinary  household.  He  loathed 
anything  perfunctory.  The  average  newspaper  he 


AS  A  NEWSPAPER  MAKER  119 

regarded  as  in  a  rut,  handicapped  by  tradition,  fail- 
ing to  get  the  viewpoint  of  the  reader. 

Mr.  Nelson's  methods  in  the  conduct  of  The 
Star  were  as  individual  as  everything  else  he  did. 
His  interest  extended  to  the  smallest  details.  But 
particularly  in  his  later  years  he  paid  little  atten- 
tion to  the  business  aspects  of  the  newspaper.  His 
attention  was  absorbed  in  editorial  duties. 

It  was  characteristic  of  him  that  he  asked  that 
when  it  was  necessary  to  mention  him  in  the  news 
columns  he  should  be  referred  to  as  "editor"  of 
The  Star,  rather  than  as  "  editor  and  owner  "  — 
the  title  which  was  kept  standing  at  the  head  of  the 
editorial  column. 

He  almost  never  wrote  anything  for  the  paper 
with  his  own  hand.  He  was  too  busy  for  that.  But 
the  day  rarely  passed  when  he  did  not  outline  one 
or  more  articles  of  some  sort.  Almost  always  in 
these  outlined  articles  there  would  be  striking  sen- 
tences which  could  be  used  verbatim.  He  was  a 
master  of  nervous,  epigrammatic  English. 

When  an  article  he  had  outlined  would  be  com- 
pleted, he  liked  to  have  it  read  over  to  him.  He 
had  acquired  a  wonderful  facility  at  criticism.  He 
would  listen  to  the  reading  of  a  long  article  and 


120       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

then  say:  "Now,  back  up  to  about  the  middle  of 
the  article,  where  you  say  so-and-so."  The  writer 
would  find  the  place  and  read  the  passage  again. 
"  Now,  don't  you  think  it  could  be  better  expressed 
in  this  way  ?"  Mr.  Nelson  would  say.  And  his  sub- 
stitute would  almost  invariably  impress  the  author 
of  the  article  as  a  decided  improvement. 

If  he  were  away  from  the  office  for  any  reason 
he  would  jot  down  memoranda  of  ideas  on  the  backs 
of  envelopes.  Later  he  would  have  them  copied  on 
sheets  of  paper  and  sent  to  some  member  of  the 
staff  for  circulation.  One  night  in  his  illness,  for  in- 
stance, he  was  wakeful.  About  midnight  he  called 
Ben,  his  devoted  friend,  nurse,  and  manager  of  the 
household,  and  dictated  this  paragraph.  It  is  char- 
acteristic of  him :  — 

"The  legislature  has  always  been  looked  upon 
by  the  capitalist  as  a  place  to  obtain  special  privi- 
leges. It  looks  now  as  though  the  people  may  go 
there  to  get  their  rights." 

One  of  his  axioms  was  that  under  all  circum- 
stances The  Star  must  be  a  gentleman.  His  staff 
knew  that  he  would  not  sanction  the  publication  of 
articles  reflecting  on  the  private  life  of  any  person, 
unless  a  court  proceeding  made  it  necessary. 


AS  A  NEWSPAPER  MAKER  121 

"I  am  always  willing  to  overlook  an  error  in 
judgment  regarding  news,"  he  would  say,  "pro- 
vided it  is  made  on  the  side  of  good  taste." 

At  one  time  a  grave  scandal  came  up  involving 
a  man  who  was  a  possibility  as  a  presidential  can- 
didate. There  was  a  division  of  opinion  in  the  office 
regarding  it.  Mr.  Nelson,  as  he  often  put  it,  "  cast 
the  unanimous  vote"  against  the  publication. 

"The  man  has  been  making  a  game  fight  for 
self-control,"  he  said.  "The  Star  isn't  going  to 
make  his  way  harder  for  him." 

He  had  no  patience  with  perfunctory  work  of 
any  sort,  or  with  adherence  to  precedents.  If  news 
worth  while  was  in  sight  he  would  throw  all  the 
resources  of  the  paper  into  getting  it.  But  if  he 
felt  that  something  else  than  news  was  of  most 
public  interest,  then  that  was  the  thing  that  con- 
cerned him. 

"  I  don't  enjoy  traveling  in  a  well-trodden  path," 
he  would  say.  "  The  Star  should  pioneer." 

If  a  poem  by  Rudyard  Kipling  or  a  story  by 
S.  G.  Blythe  was  the  most  interesting  thing  that 
had  come  into  the  office  on  a  day,  his  instructions 
were  to  "  play  it  up  "  on  the  first  page. 

He  had  the  greatest  scorn  for  the  suggestion 


122       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

that  some  other  newspaper  handled  material  in  an- 
other way.  "  What  the  other  fellow  does  does  n't 
interest  me,"  he  would  say.  "Newspapers  that 
are  edited  with  a  view  to  attracting  attention  from 
other  newspapers  are  failures.  We  are  running 
The  Star  for  our  readers,  not  for  other  news- 
papers." 

The  advent  of  yellow  journalism  never  disturbed 
him,  and  he  made  no  concessions  to  it  in  the  way 
of  big  headlines  or  sensational  exaggerations.  His 
was  one  of  the  few  newspapers  in  America  that 
were  uninfluenced  by  the  new  movement.  He 
believed  the  tendencies  of  the  "yellows"  were  vul- 
gar and  bad.  Over  and  over  he  declared  he  would 
quit  the  business  before  he  would  get  out  what  he 
regarded  as  a  shoddy  paper. 

His  ideal  of  giving  the  reader  the  most  possi- 
ble for  his  money  showed  in  all  the  details  of  his 
management.  He  felt,  for  instance,  that  the  size 
of  type  commonly  used  in  newspapers  was  trying 
on  the  eyes.  So  he  discarded  it  and  had  The  Star 
set  in  larger  type.  With  the  larger  brevier  type 
he  used  first  a  style  of  type  face  that  he  felt  was 
artistic.  After  two  or  three  years  he  decided  that 
it  was  not  quite  as  legible  as  a  blacker  type,  so  he 


AS  A  NEWSPAPER  MAKER  123 

threw  the  handsome  type  away  and  ordered  the 
other. 

For  a  long  time  he  would  not  use  illustrations 
in  The  Star  because  he  felt  a  newspaper  could  not 
do  them  well,  and  he  never  was  for  doing  anything 
he  could  not  do  well.  But  finally  he  decided  on 
the  use  of  line  drawings.  Other  newspapers  gradu- 
ally adopted  the  mechanical  form  of  reproduction 
of  photographs  known  as  "half-tones."  This  proc- 
ess was  vastly  cheaper  than  the  one  The  Star  was 
using,  but  Mr.  Nelson  never  would  consider  it,  for 
two  reasons :  In  the  first  place,  the  half-tone  is 
likely  to  smear  and  blur  in  the  rapid  printing  of  a 
newspaper,  and  in  the  second  place  a  mechanical 
reproduction  never  interested  him.  He  wanted  in- 
dividuality. 

When  he  was  away  for  the  summers  he  always 
liked  to  have  a  member  of  the  staff  with  him. 
His  impaired  eyesight  in  his  later  years  made  it 
almost  essential  that  he  should  have  some  one  at 
hand  who  was  familiar  with  newspapers  and  with 
The  Star,  and  who  could  go  over  the  paper  with 
him  and  write  out  his  suggestions  —  for  he  never 
had  acquired  the  habit  of  dictating  letters  or  articles. 

On  such  occasions   he    sent  daily  letters  and 


124       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

telegrams  to  the  office,  making  suggestions  and 
giving  hints  of  policies.  For  instance,  in  1911, 
Champ  Clark  made  a  speech  replying  to  a  state- 
ment by  the  President.  Mr.  Nelson  wired :  "While 
Champ  Clark's  reply  lacks  dignity  in  spots,  he 
scored  all  right." 

At  another  time  he  wrote :  "  Our  attention  should 
be  given  to  tax  reform  at  home.  A  citizen  ought 
to  be  able  to  pay  all  his  county  and  city  taxes  at 
one  time.  There  is  too  much  duplication  of  officials 
and  duties." 

He  was  fond  of  sending  such  precepts  as  this : 
"  In  every  editorial  room  the  warning  sign  of  the 
New  England  railroad  crossings  should  be  posted : 
'Stop,  Look,  Listen.'  A  good  head  is  a  mighty 
fine  thing,  but  unless  guided  by  good  conscience 
it  can  do  a  world  of  mischief  in  a  newspaper 
office." 

The  whole  make-up  and  appearance  of  The 
Star  was  evidence  of  his  confidence  that  people 
wanted  only  the  best.  He  steadfastly  refused  to 
cheapen  the  paper  in  any  way.  Typographically 
it  has  attracted  attention  all  over  the  country. 
Only  a  few  days  before  his  death  a  letter  came 
from  one  of  the  great  New  York  publishing  houses 


AS  A  NEWSPAPER  MAKER  125 

making  inquiry  about  The  Star's  experience  with 
one  style  of  type  which  it  had  used  several  years 
before  and  then  had  abandoned. 

"Of  course  our  readers  can't  be  expected  to 
know  the  technical  side  of  newspaper  typography," 
he  would  say.  "  But  they  will  instinctively  recog- 
nize that  the  best  is  satisfying,  although  they  may 
not  know  the  reason." 

It  was  the  same  way  in  the  use  of  illustrations. 
He  watched  them  with  the  greatest  care,  and  when 
anything  got  in  that  was  below  standard,  the  staff 
heard  from  it.  His  associates  sometimes  used  jok- 
ingly to  tell  him  that  what  he  really  needed  for 
The  Star  was  an  art  staff  made  up  of  a  Rembrandt, 
a  Corot  and  a  Whistler,  and  a  staff  of  writers  that 
included  a  Dickens,  a  Balzac  and  a  Kipling. 

"  And  we  could  afford  to  pay  for  them  if  we 
could  get  them,"  he  would  retort.  "The  people 
want  the  best  there  is." 

The  importance  of  the  reporter  was  constantly 
emphasized  in  The  Star  office.  To  be  useful  around 
a  newspaper  a  man,  in  his  opinion,  must  have  the 
instinct  of  the  reporter.  He  might  report  news,  or 
he  might  report  ideas.  But  at  bottom  he  must  be 
a  reporter  and  not  a  "journalist" — a  word  the  edi- 


126       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

tor  of  The  Star  had  no  patience  with.  His  ideas  on 
the  subject  were  sketched  in  an  address  which  he 
prepared  to  be  communicated  by  long  distance  tele- 
phone to  an  audience  in  one  of  the  "journalism 
weeks  "  at  the  University  of  Missouri :  — 

There  is  just  one  point  that  I  wish  to  emphasize 
to  the  young  men  who  are  expecting  to  engage  in 
newspaper  work :  That  is,  that  the  reporter  is  the 
essential  man  on  the  newspaper.  He  is  the  big 
toad  in  the  puddle. 

Young  fellows  looking  forward  to  a  newspaper 
career  often  have  in  mind  an  editorship  of  some 
sort.  They  want  to  guide  and  instruct  public  opin- 
ion. The  trouble  is  that  the  public  does  n't  yearn 
to  have  its  opinion  guided  and  instructed.  It  wants 
to  get  the  news  and  be  entertained. 

Such  instruction  as  we  have  to  impart  must  be 
made  a  secondary  matter.  If  we  can  sneak  up  be- 
hind a  man  when  he  is  n't  looking  and  instruct 
him,  all  well  and  good.  But  if  he  gets  the  idea 
that  our  main  purpose  is  to  edify  him,  he  runs  so 
fast  that  we  never  can  catch  him. 

This  is  merely  to  say  that  the  reporter  is  the 
essential  chap  in  a  newspaper  shop.  We  could  get 
on  pretty  well  without  our  various  sorts  of  editors. 
But  we  should  go  to  smash  if  we  had  no  reporters. 
They  are  the  fellows  whose  work  determines 
whether  the  paper  shall  be  dull  or  interesting; 
whether  it  shall  attract  readers  or  repel  them. 


AS  A  NEWSPAPER  MAKER  127 

Consider  who  are  making  the  real  newspapers 
and  magazines  to-day.  Not  the  grave  and  learned 
publicist  who  is  giving  advice  on  the  state  of  the 
Nation  from  the  seclusion  of  some  hole  in  the  wall ; 
not  the  recluse  with  a  bunch  of  academic  theories. 

It  is  the  reporter  with  the  nose  for  news.  He 
is  the  only  fellow  who  has  any  business  around 
newspapers  or  magazines.  In  general  their  job  is 
not  to  produce  literature,  but  to  do  reporting. 

The  essential,  then,  is  the  nose  for  news  —  the 
instinct  to  recognize  the  real  story  in  an  event  or 
situation.  This,  I  presume,  is  inborn.  If  a  man 
has  n't  it,  let  him  forsake  the  newspaper  field. 
He  will  never  make  a  success  of  it. 

With  this  news  instinct  must  come  industry. 
Often  a  good  pair  of  legs  makes  a  good  reporter. 
The  newspaper  man  must  always  be  on  the  job, 
always  hustling,  always  ready  to  go  to  any  incon- 
venience or  suffer  any  fatigue  to  get  the  news. 
And  above  all,  so  far  as  the  routine  of  reporting 
goes,  he  must  be  honest  and  accurate. 

At  the  same  time  he  must  never  be  a  machine. 
Many  reporters  are  ruined  by  allowing  themselves 
to  become  messengers  of  the  city  editor.  They 
cover  assignments,  and  that  is  all  they  do.  But  a 
newspaper  can  get  plenty  of  men  to  do  that  for 
ten  dollars  a  week.  What  is  needed  in  reporting 
is  initiative  and  imagination.  The  man  who  has  the 
imagination  to  see  a  real  story  in  an  apparently 
commonplace  happening  and  the  initiative  to  go 


128       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

after  it  and  develop  the  story,  is  the  sort  of  man 
every  newspaper  is  looking  for. 

If  in  addition  to  these  abilities  comes  a  knack  of 
writing,  so  much  the  better.  The  fortunate  pos- 
sessor of  this  combination  is  on  the  way  to  fame. 
But  the  ability  to  write  is  common  and  less  valu- 
able than  the  ability  to  dig  out  news. 

I  sometimes  think  that  Providence  is  especially 
charged  to  watch  over  reporters.  There  seems  to 
be  something  in  their  work  that  brings  out  the 
best  there  is  in  them. 

In  a  long  career  in  which  I  have  dealt,  I  sup- 
pose, with  hundreds  of  reporters,  I  have  almost 
never  known  one  to  be  false  to  his  trust.  Oppor- 
tunities innumerable  come  to  them  to  be  dishonest 
—  to  color  news,  or  suppress  it.  But  it  is  the  rarest 
thing  in  the  world  for  them  to  be  disloyal.  We 
constantly  trust  young,  little  known  fellows  with 
the  gravest  concerns,  and  our  confidence,  as  I  said, 
is  almost  never  misplaced. 

It  is  a  constant  wonder  to  me  that  men  are  will- 
ing to  make  the  adventure  into  newspaper  work, 
until  I  recall  that  it  is  the  most  fascinating  work  in 
the  world,  and  that  when  a  man  once  gets  the  virus 
in  his  system  he  can't  be  beaten  off  with  a  club. 

Finally,  the  reporter  must  be,  above  all,  a  good 
citizen  in  all  that  that  term  implies.  He  must  be 
honest;  he  must  be  sincere.  He  must  be  against 
shams  and  frauds.  His  heart  must  be  right.  Mere 
smartness  will  never  give  permanent  success. 


AS  A  NEWSPAPER  MAKER  129 

So  I  would  leave  you  with  this  last  word  :  Make 
it  your  ambition  to  be  great  reporters.  And  every- 
thing else  shall  be  added  unto  you. 

The  editorial  room  of  The  Star  furnished  a  com- 
plete example  of  Mr.  Nelson's  democratic  ideas. 
It  was  a  thorough-going  democracy,  and  the  rela- 
tions between  the  owner  and  every  other  man  in 
the  room  were  illustrative  of  it,  as  was  the  room 
itself.  There  were  no  partitions  and  no  whispering 
galleries.  Mr.  Nelson's  desk  was  in  plain  view  and 
he  sat  at  it  every  day.  Any  man  in  the  room  could 
go  to  him,  and  if  he  did  n't  go  Mr.  Nelson  would 
send  for  him,  for  there  was  no  such  thing  as  work- 
ing for  The  Star  without  being  in  the  closest  touch 
with  the  animating  mind  that  directed  it. 

He  knew  every  man  in  the  room  who  had  been 
on  the  paper  any  length  of  time,  knew  what  he 
was  doing  and  how  well  he  was  doing  it.  He  con- 
sulted with  reporters  as  freely  as  with  his  chief 
executives  and  knew  the  capabilities  of  each.  To 
anybody  unfamiliar  with  the  working  of  so  large 
an  organization  it  would  appear  incredible  that 
one  man  could  personally  direct  it  to  the  extent 
he  personally  directed  The  Star.  He  was  able  to 
do  it  only  by  reason  of  his  marvelous  hold  on  the 


130       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

loyalty  and  affection  of  every  man  on  the  paper 

that  and  his  equally  marvelous  ability  to  inject 

into  their  minds  the  spirit  and  the  ideas  that  ani- 
mated his  own.  The  flow  of  those  ideas,  the  un- 
tiring energy  back  of  them,  the  optimism,  the 
buoyancy  of  his  spirit  under  checks  and  defeats, 
his  unshaken  faith  that  right  must  win,  the  cheer- 
fulness and  youthfulness  of  his  whole  outlook  on 
life  and  work  were  constant  revelations  to  those 
about  him. 

While  The  Star  in  the  thirty-five  years  of  Mr. 
Nelson's  unique  editorship  had  grown  to  continen- 
tal proportions,  its  field  was  primarily  Kansas  City 
and  the  Southwest.  Its  influence  on  newspaper 
standards  and  on  social  life  in  that  section  was  very 
great.  "Mr.  Nelson,"  wrote  William  Allen  White 
in  Collier's  after  his  death,  "literally  gave  color  to 
the  life  and  thought  and  aspirations  of  ten  millions 
of  people  living  between  the  Missouri  River  and 
the  Rio  Grande  in  the  formative  years  of  their 
growth  as  commonwealths  —  part  of  the  national 
commonwealth.  He  and  they  together  were  dream- 
ing States  and  building  them,  each  reacting  upon 
the  other.  The  aspirations  of  the  people  were 
caught  by  his  sensitive  brain,  and  he  gave  these 


t 


^ 

^ 

t 


i 

3 

I 


AS  A  NEWSPAPER  MAKER  131 

aspirations  back  in  The  Star  policies.  Kansas,  West- 
ern Missouri,  Oklahoma,  Northern  Texas,  New 
Mexico,  and  Colorado  form  a  fairly  homogeneous 
section  of  our  population.  That  section  has  grown 
up  on  The  Star.  Its  religion,  its  conceptions  of  art, 
its  politics,  its  business,  its  economic  scale  of  living, 
reflect  the  influence  of  the  indomitable  mind  of 
the  man  behind  The  Star,  just  as  he  gathered  and 
voiced  the  latent  visions  of  these  people  and  gave 
them  conscious  form." 

Much  testimony  of  the  same  sort  came  from 
other  editors,  most  of  whom  had  never  met  him. 
One  of  these  was  the  editor  of  the  Republican  of 
Anthony,  Kansas.  He  wrote  that  he  had  lived  for 
twenty- seven  years  under  the  influence  of  The 
Kansas  City  Star.  "As  the  writer  sums  up  the 
contributing  influences  toward  his  present  self  to- 
day," he  said,  "excepting  the  home  alone,  he  feels 
The  Kansas  City  Star  has  been  the  dominating  in- 
fluence in  his  life.  The  Great  Chief  whose  philos- 
ophy we  have  tried  to  follow,  whose  opinion  of 
right  and  justice,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to 
comprehend  it,  has  become  our  own,  whose  val- 
iant fight  for  the  common  people  and  the  general 
good  has  set  up  for  us  a  new  hero,  is  gone.  With 


132       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

thousands  of  men  and  women  in  the  great  Middle 
West  who  have  had  a  personal  acquaintance  with 
Mr.  Nelson,  yet  have  never  seen  him,  we  feel  a 
personal  loss." 

In  the  same  vein  the  Osborne  Farmer  of  Os- 
borne, Kansas,  said :  "  The  Star  taught  the  small 
fellows  to  play  the  game  square  from  a  business 
standpoint.  It  taught  them  to  hew  to  the  line  and 
express  their  honest  convictions.  It  taught  them 
to  print  the  news  and  tell  the  truth  and  not  depend 
on  public  pap  for  a  living.  That  is  why  there  are 
more  good  country  newspapers  in  Kansas  City  ter- 
ritory than  in  any  other  territory  of  like  area  in  the 
world." 

"In  all  this  territory,"  said  the  Tribune  of  Fort 
Scott,  Kansas,  "the  moral  standards  have  been 
raised,  the  civic  spirit  has  been  promoted  and  busi- 
ness prosperity  has  in  a  measure  come  through  the 
activities  of  this  one  man.  Though  his  earthly  tab- 
ernacle be  untenanted,  Colonel  Nelson  lives  in 
some  measure  in  the  lives  of  others  who  have 
come  under  the  touch  of  his  masterful  and  pur- 
poseful life." 

In  thus  identifying  the  newspaper  and  the  edi- 
tor, these  men  were  wholly  correct. 


AS  A  NEWSPAPER  MAKER  133 

Three  years  before  his  death  he  wrote  his  asso- 
ciates from  his  summer  home  in  Magnolia,  "I'm 
afraid  I  may  be  wearying  you  by  writing  so  much 
about  details  of  the  paper.  But  The  Star  is  my 
life." 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE    LAST    WEEKS 

Up  to  the  last  year  of  his  life  Mr.  Nelson  hardly- 
had  had  an  illness.  His  vitality  was  remarkable.  It 
seemed  to  his  associates  that  he  never  tired.  It  was 
always  his  custom  to  go  to  the  office  Saturday 
nights,  and  he  never  left  until  midnight.  He  in- 
variably stayed  at  his  desk  until  six  o'clock  or  after. 
On  one  occasion,  when  he  was  seventy-two  years 
old,  he  reached  Kansas  City  one  Saturday  morn- 
ing after  a  tiresome  trip  from  Boston,  drove  at 
once  in  his  car  to  his  farm,  thirty  miles  away,  spent 
the  day  inspecting  it,  and  went  to  the  office  for 
the  evening.  His  simple,  wholesome  life,  com- 
bined with  his  naturally  robust  constitution,  was 
responsible  for  this  physical  vigor. 

In  1 9 1 4  he  went  through  two  particularly  stren- 
uous political  campaigns.  The  first  for  nonpartisan 
commission  government  was  no  sooner  ended  than 
the  second  began.  The  street  railway  company 
took  advantage  of  the  election  of  a  friendly  mayor 
and  of  the  exhaustion  of  the  public  from  the  cam- 


THE  LAST  WEEKS  135 

paign  to  go  after  a  thirty-year  franchise.  The 
granting  of  this  franchise  seemed  to  Mr.  Nelson  to 
be  a  blow  to  the  future  development  of  the  city 
and  he  opposed  it  with  all  his  enormous  energy. 
The  Star  was  the  head  and  front  of  the  opposition, 
and  its  editor  took  an  active  hand  in  directing  the 
fight.  Suggestions  for  editorials,  for  news  articles, 
and  for  cartoons  came  from  him  in  inexhaustible 
profusion.  Hot  weather  always  had  been  the  enemy 
that  had  driven  him  out  of  town  in  the  summer. 
He  suffered  great  exhaustion  from  the  heat.  The 
franchise  election  was  not  held  until  July  7,  and 
he  refused  to  consider  leaving  town  until  it  was 
over.  It  was  a  hot  summer,  and  the  strain  told  on 
him,  although  he  would  not  admit  it.  After  the 
election  he  went  to  Colorado  Springs  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  summer.  He  enjoyed  his  stay  there 
immensely  and  motored  over  a  good  share  of  the 
eastern  part  of  the  State. 

When  he  returned  from  Colorado  his  friends 
noticed  that  he  lacked  his  old-time  physical  vigor. 
But  he  never  complained  and,  indeed,  insisted  that 
he  was  perfectly  well.  He  spent  his  days  at  The 
Star  office  as  usual.  Late  in  the  autumn  he  gave 
up  to  the  extent  of  leaving  the  office  at  five  o'clock 


136       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

instead  of  six,  and  of  staying  at  home  Saturday 
nights.  His  last  visit  to  The  Star  was  Saturday, 
December  5. 

For  the  next  three  months  he  was  able  to  be 
about  the  house  and  he  took  as  active  a  hand  as 
ever  in  the  direction  of  The  Star.  He  had  tele- 
phones installed  in  various  rooms  and  he  was  in 
hourly  communication  with  the  office.  By  eight 
o'clock  in  the  morning  he  usually  called  up  to 
outline  editorials  and  make  suggestions  regarding 
articles. 

The  plight  of  the  poor  in  the  cold  of  winter 
was  of  immense  concern  to  him.  He  took  a  great 
interest,  not  only  in  a  large  gift  which  he  made 
to  the  Provident  Association,  but  also  in  suggest- 
ing features  for  the  paper  that  might  bring  more 
relief. 

He  was  absorbed,  too,  in  the  work  of  the  soup 
kitchen  which  his  daughter  inaugurated  and  con- 
ducted. He  was  interested  in  every  detail  of  it  and 
insisted  on  full  reports  of  its  operation. 

One  Saturday  night,  in  his  last  illness,  while  The 
Star  was  helping  in  a  campaign  to  raise  money  for 
the  Provident  Association,  Mr.  Nelson  called  the 
office.    He  was  too  weak  to  sit  up  and  he  had  the 


THE  LAST  WEEKS  137 

telephone  held  to  his  lips  as  he  lay  in  bed.  He 
wanted  to  suggest  a  sentiment  to  be  hand-lettered 
and  printed  across  the  top  of  the  page  for  Sunday 
morning.  With  some  difficulty  he  dictated  the  sen- 
tences to  be  used :  — 

"  On  this  His  day  the  Lord  asks  only  for  His  poor. 
If  the  people  of  Kansas  City  were  as  generous  to 
the  Lord  as  the  Lord  has  been  good  to  them,  there 
would  be  here  no  hunger,  no  poverty,  no  want." 

"What  I  want  to  do,"  he  said,  "is  to  get  in  on 
some  of  these  rich  men  who  go  to  church  with 
prayer-books  under  their  arms  and  never  do  any- 
thing for  anybody.  They  think  our  Saviour  wore 
a  frock  coat  and  a  silk  hat.  I  want  to  get  them  to 
see  that  he  belonged  to  the  poor." 

In  his  illness  his  friends  remembered  him  with 
gifts  of  flowers.  He  spoke  of  the  remembrances 
with  great  appreciation.  "  But,"  he  would  add,  "  I 
have  everything  in  the  world  here  that  I  can  possibly 
need.  There  are  women  and  children  in  Kansas 
City  suffering  for  lack  of  food  and  clothing.  I  wish 
these  gifts  could  go  to  them/' 

Several  weeks  before  his  death,  facing  the  knowl- 
edge that  his  illness  was  to  terminate  fatally,  he 
said  to  a  friend :  "  The  Lord  has  been  far  better  to 


138       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

me  than  I  deserved.  I  have  had  a  long  and  happy 
life,  with  great  opportunities  for  usefulness.  My 
only  regret  is  that  I  have  not  accomplished  more. 
But  if  this  is  the  end  I  am  ready." 

His  own  religion  was  intensely  practical.  While 
he  personally  suggested  the  use  of  the  Scripture 
lesson  in  The  Star  on  Sundays  and  followed  this 
with  excerpts  from  great  sermons,  he  felt  that  he 
could  best  show  devotion  to  God  by  doing  justly 
and  loving  mercy. 

It  was  a  matter  of  religion  with  him  that  The 
Star  should  fight  for  high  ideals  and  great  causes. 
"A  heavy  obligation  has  been  intrusted  to  us,"  he 
would  say  to  his  associates  in  The  Star  office.  "  We 
would  be  worse  than  criminals  if  we  should  fail  in 
our  duty." 

While  not  a  communicant  of  any  church,  he  was 
fundamentally  and  essentially  religious.  His  rever- 
ence for  God  was  as  real  and  profound  as  his  devo- 
tion to  his  fellow-men.  In  those  rare  moods  when 
he  could  talk  with  his  associates  about  his  deepest 
convictions  he  would  speak  of  his  faith  in  the  Power 
not  ourselves  that  makes  for  righteousness  and  of 
his  own  sense  of  obligation. 

He  was  serenely  confident  that  the  universe  was 


THE  LAST  WEEKS  139 

the  expression  of  a  Righteous  Creator ;  that  in  the 
end  right  would  triumph;  and  that  no  evil  could 
befall  a  good  man  in  death. 

"  I  have  tried  to  do  my  duty  and  be  a  good  man,' ' 
he  said  one  day  in  an  intimate  conversation  with  an 
old  friend.  To  be  a  "good  man."  It  was  the  key- 
note to  his  character. 

His  trouble  was  a  stoppage  of  the  liver  which 
interfered  with  nutrition  and  with  the  elimination 
of  toxins.  Gradually  he  became  weaker,  but  his 
mental  activity  showed  no  diminution.  Early  in 
March  he  sent  for  some  of  the  members  of  his  staff 
for  a  consultation  about  the  Election  Reform  Bill 
then  pending  in  the  Missouri  Legislature.  He  talked 
for  half  an  hour  with  his  old-time  vigor  about  the 
fundamental  necessity  for  a  democracy  of  honest 
elections.  The  Star  must  fight  for  this  cause  with 
all  its  resources.  He  might  not  be  on  earth  to 
see  the  end  of  the  fight,  but  the  fight  must  be 
won. 

The  next  day  he  called  the  office  on  the  tele- 
phone to  suggest  some  editorials  and  a  cartoon.  His 
last  editorial  appeared  in  the  morning  edition  of  The 
Star  for  Saturday,  March  6.  It  was  an  appeal  for 
the  Democratic  Party  in  Missouri,  controlling  the 


i4o       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

legislature,  to  show  itself  a  progressive,  Wilson 
party  by  passing  the  election  bill.  The  editorial 
follows :  — 

ROOM    FOR    A    WILSON    PARTY? 

Is  there  room  in  Missouri  for  a  Wilson  Demo- 
cratic Party  ?  The  fate  of  the  Election  Bill  is  going 
to  show  whether  there  is. 

In  the  afternoon  edition  of  the  same  day  appeared 
the  last  cartoon  of  his  suggestion,  representing  a 
symbolic  figure  of  Missouri  appealing  to  the  legis- 
lature in  the  name  of  the  great  Virginia  Presidents 
to  live  up  to  their  standards  by  reforming  the  elec- 
tion system. 

Mr.  Nelson  did  not  see  his  last  work  in  print. 
Friday  afternoon,  March  5,  he  suddenly  became 
unconscious  from  uremic  poisoning.  His  physicians 
believed  he  would  never  rally.  His  remarkable 
strength  brought  him  through,  however,  and  on 
Tuesday  he  regained  consciousness.  But  his  work 
was  ended.  He  was  too  weak  to  make  further  sug- 
gestions about  the  conduct  of  The  Star.  One  final 
message,  indeed,  he  sent  by  his  son-in-law,  Mr. 
Kirkwood.  He  was  restless  one  night  and  sent  for 
Mr.  Kirkwood  at  midnight.  "  Those  messages  of 


THE  LAST  WEEKS  141 

sympathy  and  appreciation  have  been  fine,"  he 
said.  "  But  remind  the  men  at  the  office  of  one 
thing.  The  interests  that  are  against  Kansas  City 
are  still  in  control.  The  fight  on  them  must  n't 
let  up,  no  matter  if  they  do  say  nice  things  about 
me." 

The  next  month  was  a  constant  fight  on  the  part 
of  his  physicians  to  prolong  his  life  in  the  hope  that 
his  recuperative  powers  would  prove  sufficient 
to  restore  him.  "  If  he  were  only  twenty  years 
younger,"  they  said.  But  he  continued  to  grow 
weaker,  and  only  repeated  injections  of  a  saline 
solution  prevented  the  recurrence  of  uraemia.  It 
irked  him  to  make  what  he  felt  was  a  hopeless  fight. 
"When  it  comes  my  time  to  go,"  he  said  repeat- 
edly in  the  last  few  years,  "  I  want  to  go  down 
with  my  colors  flying."  He  could  not  bear  the 
thought  of  living  uselessly  merely  for  the  sake  of 
living.  Finally  he  had  a  set-to  with  the  doctor  im- 
mediately in  charge.  "You  are  keeping  me  alive 
to  no  purpose,"  he  said.  "I  thought  you  were  my 
friend.  You  are  n't  acting  like  one.  I  am  not  afraid 
to  die.  The  next  time  let  me  go.  It  is  no  kindness 
to  keep  me  alive." 

That  very  afternoon  he  had  his  wish.  He  be- 


142       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

came  unconscious,  lingered  peacefully  in  that  state 
five  days,  and  died  at  two  o'clock  the  morning  of 
April  13,  1915. 

At  Oak  Hall  when  the  end  came  were  all  the 
surviving  members  of  the  immediate  family:  Mrs. 
Nelson  and  their  only  child,  Mrs.  Kirkwood ;  Mr. 
Kirkwood,  and  Mr.  Nelson's  sisters,  Mrs.  Henry  W. 
Bond  and  Miss  Eva  R.  Nelson. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

AS  HE  WAS  KNOWN    TO    HIS    HELPERS   ON   THE  STAR 

When  word  came  to  the  office  of  The  Star  that  Mr. 
Nelson's  illness  had  become  critical,  and  that  he  would 
probably  die  within  twenty-four  hours,  the  following 
sketch  was  written  by  A.  B.  Macdonald,  of  The  Star.  It 
was  published  in  that  paper  the  day  after  Mr.  Nelson's 
death:  — 

Mr.  Nelson  was  the  biggest  and  broadest  man 
mentally  I  ever  knew,  and  in  my  twenty-five 
years  in  newspaper  work  I  met  many  of  the  great- 
est men  of  this  country. 

I  have  been  with  him  for  twenty  years,  and  I 
had  a  higher  respect  and  a  deeper  affection  for  him 
than  for  any  other  man  except  my  own  father. 

There  was  nothing  hypocritical,  mean,  small, 
narrow,  bigoted,  or  cowardly  in  him.  He  did  not 
like  a  man  who  had  any  of  those  characteristics, 
and  he  would  not  have  one  around  him  if  he  knew 
it.  He  tried  to  have  the  staff  of  The  Star  made  up 
of  men  for  whom  he  had  a  personal  liking.  He 
often  spoke  of  those  men  as  "The  Star  family," 


144       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

and  that  was  his  attitude  toward  the  men  who 
worked  for  him  and  with  him. 

He  usually  had  a  man  from  the  office  with  him 
on  his  summer  vacations ;  sometimes  several  of  the 
men  would  be  with  him  at  different  times  in  one 
vacation.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  with  him 
in  Colorado  Springs  last  summer.  Those  were 
wonderful  days,  for  Mr.  Nelson  was  the  most 
companionable  of  men.  He  had  an  inexhaustible 
store  of  anecdotes  and  good  stories,  and  his  soul 
overflowed  with  cheerfulness  and  laughter. 

"  Why  don't  you  wait  and  go  to  breakfast  with 
me?"  he  asked  one  morning. 

I  explained  to  him  that  I  could  not  sleep  with 
the  knowledge  that  I  was  missing  the  sight  of  the 
sun  clearing  the  mists  from  the  crown  of  Pike's 
Peak,  and  creeping  down  its  rugged,  dull  red 
slope,  and  that  this  pulled  me  out  of  bed  early 
every  morning;  and,  as  I  did  not  like  the  great 
dining-room  of  the  hotel,  with  its  convoy  of  wait- 
ers and  its  other  formalities,  I  was  in  the  habit  of 
arising  at  six  o'clock  and  going  down  the  street  to 
a  charming  little  cafe  where  most  luscious  canta- 
loupes were  served. 

"By  George,"  he  said,  "you  get  me  out  early 


^ 


is 


8   >; 


*  1 


If 


u 
& 


WITH  HIS  HELPERS  ON  THE  STAR     145 

after  this  and  1 11  go  down  and  eat  with  you  at 
that  place." 

I  told  him  that  maybe  it  would  not  look  digni- 
fied enough  for  him  to  do  that.  Every  one  knew 
him  in  the  Springs ;  delegations  had  waited  upon 
him;  they  had  "made"  a  great  deal  over  him  out 
there  (as  people  did  wherever  he  went),  and  it 
might  be  a  little  out  of  place  for  him  to  go  for  his 
meals  to  a  cheap  cafe. 

A  day  or  two  afterward  we  motored  to  Canon 
City  and  on  the  way  reached  Pueblo  at  luncheon- 
time.  One  in  the  party  suggested  the  hotel. 

"No,  sir.  We  are  among  strangers  now  and 
that  *  dignity '  argument  of  yours  won't  go.  Let 's 
go  to  the  lunch-room  in  the  depot  and  eat  off  the 
counter.  I  haven't  done  that  for  a  long  time,"  he 
said  with  a  laugh.  We  did  it,  and  he  enjoyed  it 
immensely. 

One  day  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nelson  motored  away 
back  into  the  mountains  to  revisit  a  little  hotel 
where  they  had  spent  a  vacation,  soon  after  they 
were  married,  back  in  the  days  when  The  Star 
was  struggling  to  get  upon  its  feet.  On  the  way 
we  came  at  luncheon-time  to  a  small  frame  hotel 
in  a  valley,  and  Mr.  Nelson  said :  — 


i46       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

« I  wonder  if  we  can't  eat  here ;  it  looks  clean 
and  good." 

He  was  always  on  the  lookout  for  such  out-of- 
the-way  places.  Soon  the  meal  was  ready,  and 
when  we  went  in  the  good  woman  had  placed  a 
plate  for  the  chauffeur  on  a  side  table.  Mr.  Nelson 
noticed  it  and  ordered  that  the  plate  be  put  at  his 
table. 

"  Collins  £the  chauffeur]  is  one  of  our  party," 
he  said. 

Wherever  he  went  Mr.  Nelson  always  attracted 
attention  because  of  the  great  strength  of  charac- 
ter in  his  face  and  the  natural  dignity  of  his  bear- 
ing. People  always  turned  to  look  after  him  and 
to  ask  who  he  was. 

This  time  when  we  came  out  of  the  dining-room 
there  was  a  string  of  guests  sitting  along  the  nar- 
row porch  of  the  little  hotel.  They  had  been  won- 
dering who  he  was,  and  one  of  them,  an  old  man, 
determined  to  find  out,  arose  and  said,  as  he  put 
out  his  hand  :  — 

"  My  name  is  [so  and  so]  from  Chandler,  Okla- 
homa." 

"Glad  to  meet  you,  sir;  my  name  is  Nelson 
of  Kansas  City." 


WITH  HIS  HELPERS  ON  THE  STAR     147 

"  Not  Mr.  Nelson  of  the  Star  ? "  exclaimed  the 
man  in  astonishment. 

"  Yes,  I  am  Mr.  Nelson." 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  the  man  as  he  shook  his  hand 
again,  "  I  am  proud  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Nelson.  I 
have  taken  your  paper  for  twenty-five  years.  I  've 
read  everything  you  ever  wrote  and  I  never  knew 
you  to  be  wrong  yet.  Your  paper  is  the  best  paper 
in  the  world  and  I  've  always  wanted  to  meet  you." 

At  that  the  others  on  the  veranda  got  up  and 
came  forward.  A  woman  shook  his  hand  and 
said :  — 

"  I  am  from  Beloit,  Kansas,  and  we  take  The 
Star  and  it  is  our  favorite  paper." 

Then,  in  turn,  a  man  from  Springfield,  Mis- 
souri, a  woman  from  Tulsa,  Oklahoma,  a  man 
from  Garden  City,  Kansas,  and  a  man  and  his 
wife  from  some  place  in  Nebraska,  each  shook 
hands,  and  each  assured  him  that  they  were  Star 
subscribers,  liked  it  better  than  any  other  paper, 
and  believed  in  his  policies. 

Each  person  in  that  group,  from  widely  sepa- 
rated places,  was  a  reader  of  The  Star. 

"Well,"  said  Mr.  Nelson,  beaming  with  de- 
light, "we  are  not  strangers  after  all,  but  friends." 


i48       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

The  incident  made  a  deep  impression  upon  him, 
and  on  the  way,  afterward,  he  talked  much  about 
it.  He  talked  of  the  purposes  and  aims  of  The  Star. 
The  paper  had  recently  been  defeated  in  its  effort 
to  prevent  the  street-railway  company  from  fas- 
tening upon  Kansas  City  an  iniquitous  franchise. 

In  speaking  of  that,  he  said :  "  The  Star  cannot 
be  defeated  if  it  is  right.  An  election  that  goes 
contrary  to  its  policies  is  only  a  temporary  set- 
back, and  not  a  defeat.  Right  will  always  triumph 
in  the  end;  it  must  prevail." 

And  then  he  talked  of  the  future.  He  was 
planning  then  for  The  Star  to  do  all  it  could  to 
help  in  the  approaching  campaign  to  banish  saloons 
and  roadhouses  from  rural  Jackson  County,  and 
to  take  part  in  the  political  county  campaign  in  the 
fall.  He  said  that  as  long  as  he  lived  The  Star 
would  keep  on  fighting  for  the  right  things,  re- 
gardless of  all,  and  he  hoped  that  the  paper  would 
continue,  one  hundred  years  after  he  was  dead,  to 
be  a  militant,  fighting  force  in  the  community. 

He  told  why  The  Star  so  strongly  opposed  the 
saloon. 

"If  they  will  bring  me  one  man,  just  one,  that 
whisky  has  ever  benefited,  I  will  give  up   my 


WITH  HIS  HELPERS  ON  THE  STAR     149 

fight  against  it;  and  they  can  have  the  whole 
country  to  search  in  for  that  one  man,"  he  said. 

He  said  that  the  ownership  of  a  newspaper  with 
the  far-reaching  circulation  and  influence  of  The 
Star  was  a  great  responsibility. 

He  thought  that  whiskey  was  a  curse,  that  event- 
ually its  sale  would  be  prohibited  by  national  law, 
that  this  day  was  not  far  away,  and  that  it  was  his 
duty  to  do  what  he  could  to  hasten  that  day,  just 
as  it  was  his  duty,  through  his  paper,  to  fight  elec- 
tion thievery  and  other  evils  that  oppressed  the 
people.  His  father  before  him  was  an  ardent  op- 
ponent of  whisky,  too. 

"  Some  of  the  dearest  friends  I  ever  had  were 
ruined  and  done  to  death  by  whisky,"  he  said. 
And  he  told  the  story  of  one  of  the  best  friends 
of  his  youth  in  Fort  Wayne,  a  brilliant,  handsome 
young  man,  with  the  brightest  prospects  and  op- 
portunities in  life,  who  married  one  of  the  finest 
young  women  in  Indiana,  and  then  got  into  the 
habit  of  drinking,  and  drifted  down  and  down  to 
abject  poverty.  His  wife  died  heartbroken.  The 
man,  aged  before  his  time,  irresolute,  his  moral 
stamina  gone,  came  to  Kansas  City  and  applied  to 
Mr.  Nelson  for  help.   He  fitted  him  out,  got  him 


i5o       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

a  position,  watched  over  him,  helped  him,  wrestled 
with  him,  tried  in  every  way  to  stand  him  on  his 
feet ;  but  it  was  no  use,  whisky  had  sapped  the  last 
shred  of  moral  fiber  in  him,  and  he  died,  a  wreck. 

Mr.  Nelson  had  helped  many  men  in  their  fight 
against  whisky,  had  sent  them  to  take  the  "  cure," 
had  given  them  chance  after  chance,  had  rejoiced 
in  their  victory,  if  they  won ;  had  grieved  at  their 
failure,  if  they  lost. 

No  wonder  he  hated  the  traffic,  with  a  deep, 
abiding  hatred  that  would  not  even  permit  a  whis- 
ky or  beer  advertisement  to  appear  in  The  Star. 

It  was  on  the  return  from  this  trip  into  the 
mountains  that  his  motor-car,  hurrying  to  get  back 
to  Colorado  Springs  in  time  for  dinner,  approached 
a  hen  and  her  brood  of  chickens  in  the  road.  The 
chauffeur  swerved  to  one  side  to  avoid  them,  but 
the  hen  suddenly  ran  across,  her  brood  behind  her, 
directly  in  front  of  the  machine,  and  too  late  to 
avoid  running  them  down.  Mr.  Nelson,  on  the  rear 
seat,  gave  a  cry  of  alarm,  and  rose  to  look  back.  A 
wheel  had  run  over  one  of  the  chicks  and  crushed  it. 

"Too  bad,  too  bad,"  he  said;  and  that  night, 
looking  back  over  the  day,  which  had  been  a  pecul- 
iarly pleasurable  one,  he  said:  — 


WITH  HIS  HELPERS  ON  THE  STAR     151 

"The  day  was  marred  by  just  one  thing." 

"What  was  that?"  I  asked. 

"  The  chicken  we  killed." 

The  early  mornings  of  his  days  at  Colorado 
Springs,  the  delightful  days  of  the  last  vacation  he 
was  destined  ever  to  have,  were  spent  in  work. 
He  had  the  paper  read  to  him.  His  eyesight  was 
poor  and  it  was  a  hard  strain  for  him  to  read.  He 
commented  upon  each  article.  When  a  piece  im- 
pressed him  as  being  uncommonly  well  written  he 
would  give  directions  to  find  out  who  wrote  it. 
He  often  sent  a  telegram  of  congratulation  to  the 
writer.  Once  a  poem  written  by  one  of  the  re- 
porters caught  him  and  he  sent  a  telegram  to  the 
reporter,  praising  his  work.  Another  time  it  was  an 
interview  with  an  army  officer  in  Fort  Leaven- 
worth and  he  sent  congratulations  to  that  reporter. 

"I  am  proud,"  he  said,  "to  discover  a  young 
man  with  the  right  stuff  in  him.  It  fills  me  with 
delight  to  find  a  boy  of  that  kind  with  us." 

At  this  time  he  got  word  that  one  of  his  young 
men  had  resigned  to  go  into  business  for  himself. 
Mr.  Nelson  inquired  all  about  the  prospects  of  the 
new  business,  and  when  he  learned  that  they  were 
good  he  was  greatly  pleased. 


152       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

"  I  always  regret  to  see  a  member  of  The  Star 
family  go,"  he  said.  "But  when  they  do  go  it 
pleases  me  immensely  to  see  them  do  well.  I 
always  want  them  to  get  on  in  the  world,  and 
succeed." 

A  little  later  he  said:  "Now,  you  sit  down  and 
write  out  a  letter  to  him  for  me.  Just  the  kind  of 
a  letter  you  would  like  me  to  write  you  if  you 
were  leaving  The  Star,  something  that  will  show 
him  how  much  I  appreciate  his  work,  something  to 
encourage  him.  He  's  going  into  business  for  him- 
self now  and  may  find  hard  sledding  for  a  while ; 
let 's  encourage  him.  I  am  getting  too  old  to  write 
much." 

After  the  letter  was  written  he  said:  "  Bully, 
bully,  that 's  just  what  I  had  in  mind  to  say." 

I  proposed  that  I  should  run  the  letter  off  on 
the  typewriter. 

"No,"  he  said,  "let  Ben  do  that.  I  want  him 
to  write  all  the  letters  and  improve  his  mind  in 
that  way." 

Ben  was  his  personal  attendant.  He  had  come 
to  Mr.  Nelson  years  before,  from  Sweden,  when 
he  could  not  speak  English.  Mr.  Nelson  had 
taken  a  deep  personal  interest  in  the  improve- 


WITH  HIS  HELPERS  ON  THE  STAR     153 

ment  of  his  mind,  and  under  his  tutelage  Ben 
had  learned  to  speak  English  fluently  and  cor- 
rectly and  to  write  it  as  well  as  the  average 
high-school  graduate.  Ben's  letters  were  models 
of  correctness,  with  never  a  grammatical  error  or 
a  word  misspelled.  Ben's  devotion  to  Mr.  Nelson 
was  like  that  of  a  son  to  his  father,  and  Mr.  Nel- 
son had  a  high  regard  for  him. 

I  planned  to  go  far  up  into  the  mountains  one 
day  on  a  "wild-flower  excursion"  by  train,  and 
when  I  spoke  of  it  to  Mr.  Nelson  he  said :  — 

"  Take  Ben  with  you.  It  will  be  a  great  thing 
for  him." 

I  did,  and  when  we  returned  Mr.  Nelson  asked : 
"  How  did  Ben  enjoy  it  ? " 

Mr.  Nelson  was  very  much  interested  in  the 
geology  of  the  Pike's  Peak  region,  and  I  found  a 
book  in  the  public  library  in  Colorado  Springs 
which  told  all  about  it  and,  having  read  that,  I  was 
equipped  to  speak  as  one  having  authority  on  that 
subject.  The  next  day,  while  we  were  motoring 
on  a  high  point  which  overlooked  the  whole  valley 
of  the  Boiling  River,  with  the  Garden  of  the  Gods 
and  Pike's  Peak  in  the  background,  I  began  to  ex- 
plain how  all  that  region  was  formed. 


154       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

"  Wait,  wait,"  interrupted  Mr.  Nelson ;  "  I  want 
Ben  to  hear  that." 

So  we  stopped  the  car  and  I  delivered  a  lecture 
on  the  geology  of  it,  telling  about  the  primeval  sea 
that  once  covered  all  that  region,  how  the  granite 
mass  of  Pike's  Peak  was  shoved  up  and  up,  how 
the  red  in  the  rocks  of  the  Garden  of  the  Gods 
was  caused  by  iron  in  them,  how  they  came  to  be 
tilted  up  on  end,  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  After  I  had 
finished  and  we  were  moving  on  again,  Mr.  Nel- 
son said  to  me,  with  keenest  pleasure :  — 

"  Did  you  notice  how  Ben  drank  that  all  in  ? 
He  never  missed  a  word,  and  he  will  never  forget 
a  word  of  it,  either.  He  has  a  very  keen  mind." 

And  Ben  was  his  valet.  I  relate  these  incidents 
simply  to  try  and  give  an  impression  of  Mr.  Nel- 
son's attitude  of  mind  toward  those  who  worked 
for  him. 

He  was  opposed  to  ironclad  discipline,  to  what 
he  called  a  "brass-collar"  rule  in  the  office.  He 
had  none  of  that.  He  took  it  for  granted  that  men 
would  do  their  work,  would  give  the  best  that 
was  in  them  to  The  Star  without  being  goaded  or 
watched.  He  said  he  wanted  each  man  on  The 
Star  to  feel  that  he  was  a  part  of  the  paper ;  that 


WITH  HIS  HELPERS  ON  THE  STAR     155 

its  achievements  depended  upon  his  work  as  much 
as  upon  the  work  of  the  owner  or  any  other  man. 
And,  above  all,  Mr.  Nelson  wanted  a  feeling  of 
comradeship  between  all  the  men  and  between 
himself  and  each  man.  That  was  why  the  whole 
editorial  force  was  grouped  in  one  big  room,  with- 
out a  partition  or  dividing  line  in  it,  and  Mr.  Nel- 
son's desk  amid  the  others,  where  the  office  boy 
was  as  free  and  welcome  to  talk  with  him  as  was 
his  managing  editor. 

He  invited  suggestions,  was  glad  to  have  the 
men  come  to  him  with  ideas,  and  felt  neglected 
if  they  did  not,  and  often  spoke  of  the  fine  spirit 
of  cooperation  that  existed  among  the  men. 

One  night  in  Colorado  Springs  he  talked  long 
about  this,  and  his  voice  thrilled  with  enthusiasm 
and  pride  when  he  spoke  of  the  body  of  men  which 
made  up  The  Star  force. 

"  You  can't  find  their  equal  in  all  America,"  he 
said.  "  There  is  not  a  man  among  them  for  whom 
I  have  not  a  high  personal  regard." 

Mr.  Nelson  always  felt  a  keen  disappointment 
when  a  young  man  who  had  promised  well  turned 
out  to  be  not  dependable.  It  took  more  than  bril- 
liancy, more  than  the  mere  ability  to  write  well, 


156       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

to  get  a  permanent  position  on  The  Star.  A  man 
had  to  be  the  right  sort,  in  character,  in  reliability, 
as  well  as  in  ability.  But  when  he  had  proved  his 
worth,  and  had  been  taken  into  The  Star  family, 
Mr.  Nelson  was  his  loyal  friend  through  thick  and 
thin,  and  nothing  could  happen,  no  tongue  could 
utter  flings  enough  to  shake  the  loyalty  of  Mr. 
Nelson  to  the  men  he  trusted  and  had  faith  in. 

Very  often  a  reporter,  in  the  pursuance  of  his 
work,  would  make  bitter  enemies,  who  thirsted 
for  revenge,  and  sometimes  they  sought  to  have 
the  reporter  lose  his  place.  No  man  who  ever  tried 
that  got  a  hearing  from  Mr.  Nelson. 

Once  a  politician,  whose  underhand  doings  had 
been  commented  upon  by  a  reporter,  came  to  the 
office  and  told  Mr.  Nelson  that  the  reporter  had  a 
personal  spite  against  him  and  had  threatened  to  run 
him  out  of  town  by  means  of  attacks  in  The  Star. 

"That  reporter  never  said  it.  I  know  him/' 
said  Mr.  Nelson. 

The  politician  persisted. 

"  I  '11  call  him  over  here  and  prove  to  you  that 
he  never  said  it,"  said  Mr.  Nelson. 

The  reporter  was  called  over  and  he  denounced 
the  politician  as  a  liar  and  proved  him  to  be  a  liar. 


WITH  HIS  HELPERS  ON  THE  STAR     157 

The  only  comment  made  by  Mr.  Nelson  was 
to  the  reporter.  "I  knew  you  were  not  a  piker," 
he  said,  and  he  turned  his  back  upon  the  politi- 
cian and  would  not  have  another  word  to  say  to 
him. 

He  never  spoke  an  unkind  word  to  a  man  in  his 
employ.  He  was  always  kind,  courteous,  and  in 
conversation  with  a  reporter  always  met  him  as  an 
equal. 

Reporters  would  make  mistakes,  but  they  were 
never  censured  by  Mr.  Nelson.  Once  an  article 
written  by  a  reporter  brought  contempt  proceed- 
ings, and  the  judge  threatened  to  send  Mr.  Nelson 
to  jail.  When  the  contempt  writ  was  issued,  the 
reporter,  out  upon  his  work,  was  summoned  to 
come  to  the  office.  He  came  in  an  uneasy  frame 
of  mind,  for  in  what  he  had  written  was  a  slight 
error.  But  when  he  reached  the  desk  of  Mr.  Nelson 
there  was  no  word  of  fault-finding,  of  censure.  He 
inquired  if  the  article  was  true  in  the  main,  and, 
being  told  that  it  was,  he  brought  his  hand  down 
with  a  resounding  blow  upon  his  desk  and  said :  — 

"  Then  we  will  fight  the  writ." 

And  he  did  fight.  His  political  enemies  proph- 
esied the  dire  things  they  would  do  to  Mr.  Nel- 


158       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

son.  He  might  be  a  brave  man  at  his  desk  in  The 
Star  office,  but  they  would  take  that  all  out  of  him 
when  they  got  him  before  the  court.  They  would 
wilt  him  and  make  him  beg  for  mercy. 

Those  who  were  in  the  courtroom  that  day 
will  never  forget  the  scene;  the  noble  dignity  of 
the  white-haired  man,  while  about  him  shuffled 
and  whispered  and  leered  the  crowd  of  political  crea- 
tures ;  and  he  the  only  calm,  unruffled,  unexcited 
one  amid  it  all.  The  political  rabble  that  day  was 
given  to  glimpse  the  strength  of  character  of  a 
great  man,  and  it  awed  them,  absolutely  awed 
them.  Then  they  began  to  sense  the  wrong  they 
were  doing,  and  it  shamed  them.  When  the  pro- 
ceedings were  over,  even  the  judge  on  the  bench 
saw  that  his  crowd  had  slunk  away  from  him. 

The  men  who  worked  for  Mr.  Nelson  knew 
on  all  occasions  exactly  what  the  policy  of  The 
Star  would  be  upon  any  question,  as  soon  as  it 
arose.  As  soon  as  a  man  was  mentioned  as  a  can- 
didate for  office  any  one  on  The  Star  could  tell 
you  whether  the  paper  would  oppose  him,  and  the 
same  with  political  movements,  and  civic  move- 
ments of  all  kinds.  Were  they  on  the  square  for 
the  public  good  ?  That  was  all.  If  they  were  n't, 


WITH  HIS  HELPERS  ON  THE  STAR    159 

it  was  all  settled  beforehand  that  they  could  never 
have  the  support  of  The  Star. 

In  twenty  years'  intimate  relations  with  him  I 
never  knew  him  to  be  wrong  on  any  question. 
He  was  always  right  and  always  far-seeing. 

I  never  knew  Mr.  Nelson  to  be  denounced  by 
an  honest  man  or  an  honest  newspaper.  I  have 
known  honest  men  to  differ  from  him,  but  I  am 
speaking  of  the  vituperation  that  has  been  launched 
against  him  at  various  times.  That  always  came 
from  men  we  knew  were  crooks,  whether  the 
public  knew  it  or  not.  Those  things  always  hurt 
us  ;  they  stung  our  indignation  into  fury  ;  they 
were  so  cruelly  false,  and  he  was  so  wholly  the 
opposite  of  what  they  pictured  him  to  be.  But  he 
never  bothered  about  those  attacks,  and  he  never 
heard  or  saw  them.  He  was  too  big  and  too  fine 
a  gentleman  to  be  drawn  into  an  argument  with 
such  men ;  and  so  he  went  on,  straight  ahead, 
with  a  sure  and  undisturbed  poise. 

I  have  had  many  of  those  enemies  of  The  Star 
say  to  me  :  "  There  must  be  something  fine  in  the 
character  of  Nelson  after  all,  for  I  never  knew  a 
man  who  worked  for  him  say  a  word  against  him ; 
they  are  always  loyal." 


160       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

About  a  year  ago  one  of  the  reporters  who  had 
been  with  The  Star  a  long  time  died  suddenly  of 
heart  disease.  After  the  funeral  Mr.  Nelson  said 
to  one  of  his  men :  "You  go  out  and  see  his  widow 
and  find  out  how  they  are  situated." 

The  report  came  back  that  they  owed  on  a 
house  they  were  paying  for,  and  that  the  three 
children  were  not  yet  through  school,  but  would 
be  in  a  year  or  two.  Mr.  Nelson  ordered  that  the 
name  of  that  reporter  be  kept  upon  the  pay-roll 
for  two  years,  which  would  give  time  for  the 
house  to  be  paid  for  and  the  children  to  finish 
school.  One  of  the  children  comes  every  pay-day 
and  takes  home  her  father's  salary. 

This  was  done  so  quietly  that  the  printing  of  it 
here  will  be  news  to  even  the  majority  of  report- 
ers on  The  Star. 

I  know  of  only  a  few  of  his  charities.  He  gave 
much,  but  he  never  mentioned  it.  Here  is  an  ex- 
ample of  it:  Some  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago  Mr. 
Nelson  discovered  one  of  his  old  schoolteachers 
living  in  poverty  in  Kansas  City  and  too  aged  to  do 
anything.  Mr.  Nelson  supported  the  family  until 
the  old  teacher  died,  and  then  he  paid  the  funeral 
expenses.  He  kept  on  supporting  the   son  and 


WITH  HIS  HELPERS  ON  THE  STAR    161 

daughter  until  the  son  died,  and  he  paid  for  his 
funeral.  The  daughter  is  still  being  supported, 
and  will  continue  to  be,  because  Mr.  Nelson  laid 
the  solemn  injunction  upon  his  secretary:  "No 
matter  what  happens,  you  always  see  that  she  is 
cared  for." 

There  are  many  such  cases,  but  he  would  not 
care  to  have  them  told  about,  maybe.  The  only 
object  in  mentioning  one  or  two  here  is  to  show  the 
public  a  side  of  his  character  people  knew  little  of. 

I  have  tried  to  write  here,  not  of  his  great 
works, — they  are  part  of  the  history  of  Kansas 
City,  —  but  a  little  of  the  nobility  of  his  soul  and 
the  human  side  of  his  nature,  and  he  was  very 
human  and  large-hearted  and  tender. 

The  public  did  not  know  him  well.  He  seldom 
went  to  public  places.  I  saw  him  only  once  in  a 
theater.  He  was  too  busy  for  that,  and  he  ab- 
horred display.  There  are  thousands  of  persons 
in  Kansas  City  who  never  saw  him,  and  too  many 
of  them  have  formed  their  opinions  of  him  from 
the  abuse  of  ranting  politicians  who  sought  by  that 
means  to  nullify  the  effect  of  the  truth  about 
themselves  and  their  schemes,  which  The  Star  was 
prone  to  tell. 


162       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

But  those  who  knew  him  best  were  strongly 
attached  to  him. 

A  newspaper  office  is  a  busy  place,  and  it 
buzzes  with  industry.  But  when  the  word  came 
that  there  had  been  a  decided  change  for  the 
worse  in  the  condition  of  Mr.  Nelson  the  hum 
of  conversation  stopped,  and  for  the  rest  of  the 
day  there  was  silence,  a  pathetic  silence,  in  which 
men  worked  with  drawn  faces. 

For  months  the  big  armchair  at  his  desk  had 
stood  vacant,  and  each  knew,  deep  down  in  his 
mind,  that  maybe  Mr.  Nelson  would  never  sit 
there  again,  but  that  possibility  was  never  spoken 
of.  There  had  always  been  a  hope,  and  we  said 
bravely  to  each  other  :  — 

"Of  course  he  will  pull  through  ;  you  just  wait 
until  the  leaves  come  out  in  the  warm  spring  days." 

But  when  the  word  came  we  all  knew.  It  had 
to  be  faced  then.  And  there  had  to  be  something 
written,  and  that  hurriedly,  too ;  and  we  went  at 
it.  But  it  is  hard  to  write  through  tears. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    SORROW    OF    THE    CITY 

On  the  day  of  Mr.  Nelson's  death  the  whole  city 
went  into  mourning.  The  feelings  of  vast  num- 
bers of  people  were  doubtless  expressed  in  a  letter 
received  at  the  office  of  The  Star  from  a  bookkeeper 
who  never  had  seen  him.  "My  most  intimate 
friend,"  he  wrote,  "is  gone."  The  flags  on  all 
public  buildings  and  on  stores  and  office  buildings 
were  set  at  half-mast. 

Commemorative  resolutions  were  adopted  by 
virtually  every  organization  in  the  city.  More  than 
sixty  took  such  action.  They  ranged  from  the 
local  carpenters'  union,  the  Ministerial  Alliance, 
the  Jackson  County  Medical  Society,  and  the 
United  Jewish  Charities,  to  both  houses  of  the  City 
Council,  the  City  Club,  the  Commercial  Club,  and 
the  Mercantile  Club  of  Kansas  City,  Kansas.  The 
carpenters'  union  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
he  was  "  the  friend  of  organized  labor,  always 
employing  union  men,  and  always  willing  to  pay 
the  highest  scale  ";  the  Ministerial  Alliance  to  his 


164       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

making  The  Star  the  champion  of  "  the  rights  of 
the  poor  and  weak  "  and  to  the  cleanness  of  the 
paper;  while  the  Commercial  Club  gave  this  recog- 
nition :  — 

William  Rockhill  Nelson,  Citizen. 

That  he  was  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word. 

He  held  citizenship  as  an  honor  and  as  a  trust 
granted  him  by  his  city,  his  State,  and  his  country 
—  a  privilege  for  which  he  was  bound  to  make 
return  by  unremitting  service.  And  Kansas  City 
received  that  service  from  William  R.  Nelson  as 
did  the  State  and  Nation. 

It  was  our  city's  great  fortune  to  have  him 
choose  it  as  his  home.  The  tremendous  impulse 
which  his  belief  in  Kansas  City's  future  gave  toward 
the  realization  of  its  greatness  was  felt  at  the  very 
beginning  of  his  citizenship  here.  Entering  a  new 
community  that  was  unformed,  undeveloped,  and 
with  only  a  vigorous  aggressiveness  to  give  it  any 
distinction,  his  far-seeing  vision,  his  broad  perspec- 
tive and  his  never-failing  faith  and  optimism  com- 
bined to  make  the  community  distinguished  as  a 
place  of  beauty  and  of  achievement  as  well. 

Where  others  saw  Kansas  City  one  of  a  score 
of  American  cities,  to  him  it  was  the  one  city  of 
America. 

His  daring,  continuous  expression  of  his  belief 
in  Kansas  City,  involving  every  energy  of  his 
splendid  equipment,  was  never  content  with  the 


THE  SORROW  OF  THE  CITY         165 

results  achieved ;  the  present  beautiful  community 
was  to  him  only  the  basis  of  a  yet  more  glorious 
metropolis  always  developing  on  lines  of  exerted 
truth,  attractiveness  and  permanence. 

With  him  it  was  ever  a  warring  against  a  com- 
placent city  when  the  splendor  of  Kansas  City 
brought  comment.  That  noble  and  stimulating 
spirit  of  discontent  with  present  achievement  is 
one  of  our  heritages  from  the  great,  the  confident, 
the  resourceful  builder  and  leader  who  has  just 
now  yielded  to  the  inevitable. 

In  the  institution  that  he  developed  in  Kansas 
City  he  was  actuated  by  what  he  believed  always 
to  be  his  plain  duty  to  the  people  of  the  city,  of 
the  Great  West  and  of  the  Nation.  Unswerv- 
ing allegiance  to  his  keen  convictions  of  what  was 
right  and  important  was  the  dominant  note  of  his 
character,  and  in  his  conduct  of  The  Star  he  would 
not  permit  himself  to  waver  or  hesitate,  whatever 
the  immediate  effect  upon  himself  or  his  news- 
paper. The  magnificent  success  of  that  newspaper 
is  a  mere  incident  of  his  faith  in  those  principles. 

Telegrams  of  sympathy  came  from  every  part 
of  the  country.  President  Wilson  wired  that  "  the 
whole  country  will  mourn  the  loss  of  a  great  edi- 
tor and  citizen."  Ex-President  Taft  referred  to 
him  as  «  a  man  of  most  exceptional  ability,  great 
power,  and  the  widest  influence,  which  he  exer- 


166       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

cised  with  undaunted  courage  for  the  right  as  he 
saw  it."  Ex-President  Roosevelt's  message  said : 
«  We  have  lost  literally  one  of  the  foremost  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  one  of  the  men  whom  our 
Republic  could  least  afford  to  spare/' 

Sentences  from  a  few  of  the  several  hundred 
telegrams  received  at  the  office  of  The  Star  will 
show  how  widespread  was  the  sense  of  loss  in  his 
death :  — 

Secretary  McAdoo :  "  A  high-minded,  coura- 
geous, and  useful  citizen,  whose  death  is  a  distinct 
loss  to  the  country."  President  Hadley,  of  Yale  : 
"The  importance  of  work  like  his  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  United  States  is  very  great  indeed." 
Rabbi  Wise,  of  New  York :  «  He  was  a  great  tribune 
of  the  American  people."  Governor  Johnson,  of 
California :  "  He  typified  the  best  in  journalism, 
the  highest  citizenship,  the  loftiest  patriotism." 
Ex-Governor  Hodges,  of  Kansas :  "  His  influence 
was  always  on  the  side  of  the  man  who  labored 
for  a  daily  wage."  Dr.  Washington  Gladden,  of 
Columbus,  Ohio :  "  The  ideal  newspaper  will  come 
sooner  because  of  him."  Ex-Senator  Beveridge : 
"  In  his  death  the  Nation  loses  one  of  its  strongest, 
bravest,  and  most  far-seeing  patriots."  Norman 


THE  SORROW  OF  THE  CITY         167 

Hapgood,  editor  of  Harper's  Weekly :  «  He  was 
one  of  our  bravest,  most  original,  and  most  useful 
Americans."  Frank  A.  Munsey,  of  the  Munsey 
publications:  " A  great  constructive  journalist." 
Secretary  Daniels  :  «  One  of  the  ablest  journalists 
America  has  produced."  Frau  Schumann-Heink  : 
"One  of  the  country's  noblest  citizens."  Arthur 
Brisbane,  of  the  Hearst  publications  :  "The  people 
of  this  country  have  cause  to  mourn  the  death  of 
a  courageous  fighter."  M.  E.  Stone,  general  man- 
ager of  the  Associated  Press  :  "  A  dauntless  fighter 
for  the  right."  E.  A.  Van  Valkenburg,  of  the 
Philadelphia  North  American :  "  His  death  is  a 
national  calamity."  J.  S.  Phillips,  editor  of  the 
American  Magazine :  "  We  shall  miss  Colonel 
Nelson's  force,  human  sense,  and  right-minded- 
ness in  journalism."  A.  S.  Ochs,  publisher  of  the 
New  York  Times :  "Journalism  has  lost  one  of 
its  best  examples  of  the  right  kind  of  independ- 
ence, courage,  ability,  and  enterprise."  William 
Allen  White :  "  It  is  of  the  first  importance  to 
this  generation  that  there  lived  and  wrought  here  a 
fine,  free  soul  with  a  trained  mind  which  fashioned 
out  of  the  world  about  him  every  day  he  lived  the 
reality  of  a  great  dream  of  democracy." 


168       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

Newspaper  and  magazine  comment  was  of  the 
same  sort.  Every  city  mourned  his  death.  More 
than  six  hundred  newspapers  and  magazines  were 
represented  in  periodicals  that  reached  The  Star 
office,  and  these  included  only  a  part  of  what  was 
published. 

Said  Harper's  Weekly  :  — 

Col.  William  R.  Nelson  did  not  wait  for  others 
to  set  fashions.  He  began  things  himself.  For  more 
than  thirty  years  he  made  The  Kansas  City  Star 
a  force,  a  leader,  a  help.  He  feared  nobody.  The 
forces  and  trenches  of  money  and  society  found 
him  undismayed.  And  he  was  hard-headed  about 
it.  His  specialty  was  not  hot  air.  The  causes  for 
which  he  contended  were  immediate,  concrete.  He 
dealt  not  in  isms  but  in  the  next  hard-fought  step 
ahead.  He  never  faltered.  He  was  big,  strong  and 
sure.  The  Kansas  City  Star  has  been  the  most 
powerful  journal  of  light  between  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Pacific,  and  Colonel  Nelson  was  The  Star. 

Collier's  wrote :  — 

He  took  his  place  in  journalism's  Hall  of  Fame 
—  and  it  was  a  high  place,  up  beside  Horace  Gree- 
ley and  Samuel  Bowles  —  by  kicking  in  the  door 
with  hobnailed  boots.  "I  've  tried  to  be  gentle  and 
diplomatic,"  he  once  explained,  "but  I've  never 
done  well  in  my  stocking  feet."  He  was  set  on 


THE  SORROW  OF  THE  CITY         169 

doing  things,  and  if  you  got  in  his  way  he  stepped 
on  your  neck.  To  describe  his  personality  you  had 
the  choice  between  "  dominant  "  and  "  domineer- 
ing!" His  friends  called  him  "Colonel,"  his  ene- 
mies, "  Baron."  He  had  no  respect  for  labels 
(sometimes  you  found  his  paper  supporting  a  Re- 
publican and  sometimes  a  Democratic  candidate 
for  governor)  and  he  was  n't  afraid  of  any  man  or 
set  of  men  under  heaven. 

The  Outlook  said  he  stood  "  sincerely,  and  with- 
out a  trace  of  cant,  for  public  welfare."  The  New 
York  World  pronounced  him  «  one  of  the  ablest 
and  most  aggressive  journalists  of  the  day."  The 
New  York  Globe  referred  to  "his  idealism,  his 
keen  vision,  his  unfaltering  courage,  his  passion  for 
the  common  good."  The  Boston  Transcript  spoke 
of  his  creation  of  The  Star  into  "  a  national  news- 
paper with  a  definite  purpose  in  life  and  a  soul 
patterned  after  that  of  the  aggressive  thinker  and 
fighter  who  stood  sponsor  for  it."  "Compromise 
with  any  power  he  regarded  as  evil,"  said  the  Chi- 
cago Herald,  "was  for  him  simply  unthinkable." 
The  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger  commented  on  the 
fact  that  he  had  put  his  newspaper  "  impertur- 
bably  above  the  dollar  mark."  The  Washington 
Star  spoke  of  his  passion  for  "civic  ideals";  the 


i7o       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

Richmond  Times-Dispatch  of  his  "contempt  for 
sham  and  pretense."  The  Shreveport  Journal  said 
he  "  endowed  Kansas  City  with  his  genius  for  con- 
struction." The  Daily  Eastern  Argus  of  Portland, 
Maine,  spoke  of  his  "  notable  personality,"  and  the 
Morning  Oregonian  of  Portland,  Oregon,  said  that 
«  what  Kansas  City  is  may  be  credited  in  consider- 
able measure  to  him."  The  Sacramento  Bee  ex- 
pressed belief  that  he  had  done  much  "  to  make 
life  better  worth  the  living  in  Kansas  City  and  the 
Southwest."  "  Colonel  Nelson,"  said  the  St.  Paul 
Dispatch,  "  taught  us,  his  countrymen,  that  a  great 
spirit  may  free  itself  from  the  temptation  of  wealth 
and  of  ambition,  to  use  that  wealth  for  a  high  moral 
purpose."  "  The  Star,"  was  the  Louisville  Courier- 
Journal's  comment,  "  knew  only  what  its  editor 
conceived  the  public  welfare."  "He  used  The 
Star,"  said  the  Atlanta  Constitution,  "  to  fight  hu- 
manity's battles."  "  Though  his  earthly  tabernacle 
be  untenanted,"  wrote  the  Fort  Scott  Tribune, 
"Colonel  Nelson  lives  in  some  measure  incarnate 
in  the  lives  of  others  who  have  come  under  the 
touch  of  his  masterful,  purposeful  life." 

The  Service  Bulletin  of  the  Associated  Press 
referred    to   Mr.    Nelson's    "great    interest    in 


THE  SORROW  OF  THE  CITY         171 

the  development  of  the  Associated  Press,"  and 
added :  — 

He  was  one  of  the  great  figures  of  American 
journalism.  This  repute  was  due  not  altogether  to 
the  solid  ability  which  made  The  Star  a  forceful 
and  successful  newspaper,  but  to  the  sterling  in- 
dependence and  unaffected  simplicity  which  were 
cardinal  traits  of  Colonel  Nelson's  character. 

The  directors  of  the  Associated  Press  adopted 
this  resolution,  which  expressed  the  feeling  of  his 
associates  among  newspaper  publishers  through- 
out the  country :  — 

That  the  death  of  a  private  citizen,  who  was 
not  the  incumbent  of  a  public  office  and  never 
had  been,  should  be  seriously  characterized  as  a 
public  calamity  is  a  high  testimonial  of  individ- 
ual worth  and  a  conclusive  evidence  of  unusual 
accomplishment  in  the  serious  activities  of  life. 
We,  who  enjoyed  the  intimacies  of  personal  asso- 
ciation with  William  Rockhill  Nelson  during  the 
nine  years  he  served  as  a  member  of  this  board, 
feel  that  there  is  no  exaggeration  of  phrase  in 
speaking  of  his  passing  from  life  as  a  public  loss 
of  such  moment  that  it  may  be  deliberately  and 
truthfully  said :  "  It  was  a  public  calamity." 

Sharing  in  an  exceptional  degree  the  feeling 
of  distinct  personal  bereavement  the  decease  of 
a  friend  inevitably  occasions,  we  attest  not  only 


172        WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

that  sentiment  in  this  formal  record,  but  our  sense 
of  the  service  Colonel  Nelson  rendered  to  his  pro- 
fession, to  the  city  and  State  in  which  he  lived  and 
to  the  whole  country  during  his  long  and  success- 
ful career  as  an  editor  and  publisher.  We  had 
peculiar  opportunities  to  appraise  the  rugged  force 
of  his  character,  the  unwavering  courage  with 
which  he  adhered  to  personal  convictions  when 
once  established.  We  know  that  he  made  a  news- 
paper that  was  big  enough  to  make  and  shape  the 
development  of  the  community  for  which  it  was 
published,  that  it  was  an  exemplar  of  the  best 
and  highest  standards  of  journalism,  and  we  know 
as  well  that  this  newspaper  was  in  every  charac- 
teristic feature  merely  a  material  embodiment  of 
the  man  who  was  its  owner  and  director. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  funeral  business  gen- 
erally was  suspended.  By  order  of  the  Postmaster- 
General  all  departments  of  the  post-office  were 
closed  while  the  services  were  in  progress.  For 
five  minutes  at  the  opening  of  the  services  not  a 
wheel  turned  on  the  street  railroad.  The  public 
schools  were  dismissed  at  noon.  The  courts,  the 
public  offices  of  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  part  of  those 
of  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  the  live  stock  exchange 
and  the  board  of  trade  were  closed. 

Governor  Arthur  Capper,  of  Kansas,  asked  that 


THE  SORROW  OF  THE  CITY         173 

every  newspaper  office  in  that  State  be  closed  dur- 
ing the  hour  of  the  funeral,  and  his  request  was 
generally  observed.  In  making  this  request  Gov- 
ernor Capper  issued  the  following  announce- 
ment :  — 

I  know  of  no  man  who  has  had  more  to  do 
with  the  moulding  of  the  best  thought  in  the 
West ;  no  man  who  has  had  larger  part  in  the 
substantial  upbuilding  of  this  wonderful  country, 
and  his  passing  is  a  distinct  loss  to  all  of  us.  The 
great  business  which  he  has  builded  will  stand  as 
a  fitting  monument  to  his  memory  and  will  take 
rank  among  the  foremost  achievements  of  news- 
paperdom. 

Kansas  editors  generally  have  at  one  time  or 
another  been  favored  by  Colonel  Nelson  and  I 
believe  they  will  feel  like  showing  respect  to  their 
dead  friend.  I  wish  that  every  newspaper  plant  in 
the  entire  State  might  be  closed  during  the  hour 
of  the  funeral. 

The  services  at  Oak  Hall  were  conducted  by 
Bishop  Cameron  Mann,  an  old-time  friend,  who 
came  from  Florida  for  the  purpose.  Thousands 
of  persons  thronged  the  grounds,  unable  to  get 
inside  the  house. 

Memorial  services  were  held,  first  by  the  Ro- 
tary Club,  in  which  all  the  civic  organizations  of 


i74       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

the  city  participated,  and  later  by  a  general  meet- 
ing at  the  call  of  a  citizens'  committee  at  the 
Grand  Opera  House.  Victor  Murdock,  ex-repre- 
sentative from  Kansas,  and  Henry  J.  Allen,  editor 
of  the  Wichita  Beacon,  joined  with  Frank  P. 
Walsh,  chairman  of  the  Industrial  Relations  Com- 
mission, and  local  speakers,  in  memorial  addresses. 

"I  never  knew  a  man,"  said  Mr.  Allen,  "who 
understood  the  mass  mind  better,  or  trusted  it 
more."  "I  do  not  know  where  his  soul  is,"  said 
Dante  Barton,  of  The  Star ;  "  but  I  do  know  that, 
wherever  it  is,  it  is  unafraid.  I  do  know  that  other 
souls  are  leaning  on  it,  taking  courage  and  good 
cheer  from  it."  "  Many  men,"  said  Mr.  Murdock, 
"  have  character.  Few  have  prophecy.  The  great- 
est of  the  earth  have  had  the  two.  I  shall  always 
think  of  William  R.  Nelson  so.  Many  of  us  are 
men  of  deeds.  Many  of  us  are  men  of  dreams. 
But  he  could  both  do  and  dream  and  he  could 
turn  dream  into  deed." 

Letters  were  read  from  President  Wilson  and 
ex-President  Roosevelt.  Mr.  Wilson  wrote  that 
Mr.  Nelson  had  "  left  a  deep  and  abiding  mark 
upon  the  annals  of  his  profession."  Said  Colonel 
Roosevelt :  "  There  was  no  more  useful  or  more 


THE  SORROW  OF  THE  CITY         175 

patriotic  citizen  in  the  United  States ;  no  man 
who  better  exemplified  how  to  be  the  highest 
type  of  public  servant,  although  in  private  life. 
He  was  one  of  the  stanchest  and  most  loyal 
friends  that  ever  lived.  I  mourn  him  as  a  friend. 
I  mourn  him  still  more  deeply  as  an  American 
citizen." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

HIS  ALL  TO  THE  PEOPLE 

Mr.  Nelson's  will,  in  its  disposition  of  his  estate, 
carried  out  the  theories  of  a  lifetime.  His  entire 
fortune,  including  his  newspaper  properties,  was 
left  to  the  public.  Its  income,  he  provided,  should 
be  used  for  the  purchase  of  "works  and  repro- 
ductions of  works  of  the  line  arts,  such  as  paint- 
ings, engravings,  sculpture,  tapestries,  and  rare 
books."  His  wife  and  daughter  were  to  have  the 
use  of  the  income  through  their  lives.  After  their 
death  the  estate  was  to  be  managed  by  trustees 
for  the  people  of  Kansas  City.  His  extensive 
Sni-a-Bar  farms  of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty 
acres,  thirty  miles  from  Kansas  City,  were  for 
thirty  years  to  be  made  models  for  the  instruction 
of  the  people  of  the  surrounding  country  in  stock- 
raising.  After  that  time  they  were  to  become 
part  of  the  general  estate  to  be  devoted  to  art. 

It  was  his  conviction  that  the  continued  success 
of  the  American  system  of  government,  and  the 
development  of  a  great  people,  required  the  break- 


HIS  ALL  TO  THE  PEOPLE  177 

ing-up  of  large  fortunes.  Their  perpetuation,  he 
felt,  would  tend  to  restrict  opportunity  and  dis- 
courage initiative.  He  favored  an  inheritance  tax 
that  would  permit  a  man  to  provide  for  his  imme- 
diate family  for  a  considerable  period,  and  then 
would  take  the  bulk  of  the  property  for  the  State. 
So  far  as  was  practicable  he  sought  to  apply  this 
principle  in  his  own  case. 

His  interest  in  art  dated  from  his  early  visits  to 
Europe.  He  had  an  instinct  for  the  beautiful  in 
architecture,  in  typography,  in  manners,  in  every 
department  of  life.  The  great  paintings  of  Europe 
fascinated  him.  He  never  made  the  slightest  pre- 
tensions to  being  an  art  critic  or  an  expert  on  the 
subject.  But  his  own  feelings  generally  coincided 
with  the  verdict  of  time.  He  began  to  acquire  orig- 
inals for  his  home.  He  picked  up  a  Reynolds,  a 
Corot,  a  Troyon,  a  Monet,  a  Constable,  a  Gains- 
borough, a  splendid  Ribera,  and  others.  Then  his 
thought  turned  to  Kansas  City.  It  had  no  pictures. 
He  felt  that  a  collection  of  originals  would  not  be 
practical.  The  cost  would  be  prohibitive.  Besides 
it  was  impossible  to  get  the  best  of  the  classic  pic- 
tures. They  were  not  for  sale.  While  he  was  in 
Florence  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Pisani 


178       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

family.  They  were  extensive  dealers  and  made  a 
specialty  of  copies.  In  their  private  gallery  were 
some  admirable  copies  more  than  a  hundred  years 
old.  It  occurred  to  Mr.  Nelson  that  a  gallery  of 
copies  in  the  size  of  the  originals,  made  by  com- 
petent artists,  would  be  the  solution  of  his  diffi- 
culty. He  set  a  severe  standard.  No  copy  was 
considered  unless  it  was  made  by  a  man  of  the 
highest  standing.  The  nucleus  was  obtained  from 
the  Pisani  gallery.  Others  were  added,  and  in 
1896  he  sent  to  Kansas  City  nineteen  copies  of 
great  paintings.  They  were  all  the  exact  size  of 
the  originals,  and  identical  even  to  the  frames.  The 
"Sistine  Madonna"  copy  is  the  only  one  of  the 
same  size  which  was  ever  permitted  to  be  made. 
The  originals  of  many  of  the  paintings  are  so  fine 
that  even  indifferent  copies  could  not  fail  to  have 
some  of  their  qualities,  but  the  copies  that  Kansas 
City  now  has  are  in  themselves  distinct  achieve- 
ments. With  the  copies  there  were  four  hundred 
and  fifty  photographs  of  paintings  representing 
most  of  the  important  schools  of  the  past.  More 
than  thirty  casts  of  pieces  by  Donatello  and  others 
were  in  the  collection. 

The  museum  was  opened  to  the  public  Febru- 


HIS  ALL  TO  THE  PEOPLE  179 

ary  24,  1897,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Kansas 
City  Art  Association.  The  conditions  of  the  gift, 
as  announced  by  Mr.  Nelson,  again  showed  his 
thought  of  the  public.  The  name  given  to  the  col- 
lection should  include  the  term  "Western."  This 
was  to  emphasize  that  it  was  Kansas  City's  collec- 
tion and  was  intended  to  localize  it.  And  the  col- 
lection was  to  be  open  on  Sundays,  so  that  busy 
people  could  see  it. 

Mr.  Nelson  kept  adding  to  the  collection  from 
time  to  time.  The  most  important  additions  were 
made  in  1900,  when  A.  Marinus  Broekman,  of  Am- 
sterdam, an  experienced  and  recognized  painter, 
was  commissioned  by  Mr.  Nelson  to  paint  copies 
of  the  famous  Rembrandt,  "  The  Night  Watch," 
and  of  five  other  paintings,  three  by  Franz  Hals 
and  one  —  "  The  Entombment,"  —  by  Ribera.  As 
copies  alone  these  are  distinguished.  Mr.  Nelson 
bought  at  the  same  time  some  other  copies  by 
Altman,  which  had  been  sent  by  the  Netherlands 
Government  to  the  Centennial  Exposition  in  Phila- 
delphia. These  were  of  the  Hals  "Reunion  of  the 
Officers  of  St.  Andrew,"  Paul  Potter's  "Young 
Bull,"  and  Van  der  Heist's  "  Banquet  of  the  Civic 
Guard." 


180       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

Two  most  unusual  copies  are  in  the  collection. 
They  are  the  Velasquez  "  The  Tapestry  Weavers" 
and  "The  Maids  of  Honor,"  painted  in  his  student 
days  by  William  M.  Chase.  It  might  be  said  they 
are  as  much  Chase  as  Velasquez.  The  collection 
now  numbers  sixty  paintings,  a  sixty  that  few  have 
the  opportunity  of  seeing  in  the  original. 

It  was  this  gallery  that  he  sought  to  perpetuate 
and  develop  for  the  people  of  Kansas  City  by  the 
provisions  of  his  will.  He  directed  that  the  art 
works  that  were  to  be  purchased  were  to  be  such 
"as  are  not  usually  provided  for  by  public  fund." 
It  was  his  constant  fear  that  influence  might  be 
exerted  to  get  unworthy  paintings  or  pieces  of 
sculpture  in  the  collection.  So  he  provided  that  the 
works  to  be  purchased  must  be  by  artists  who  had 
been  dead  at  least  thirty  years.  That  rule,  he  felt, 
would  exclude  the  personal  element  so  far  as  pos- 
sible. The  estate  was  to  be  administered  by  his 
wife  and  daughter,  who  were  to  derive  the  income 
for  life,  and  provision  was  made  for  possible  grand- 
children. After  the  death  of  both  Mrs.  Nelson  and 
Mrs.  Kirk  wood  the  property  was  to  go  to  trustees 
to  be  appointed  by  the  presidents  of  the  universi- 
ties of  Missouri,  Kansas,  and  Oklahoma.    "  In  pro- 


HIS  ALL  TO  THE  PEOPLE  181 

viding  for  the  appointment  of  said  university  trus- 
tees," the  will  said,  "it  has  been  my  wish  to  keep 
said  trust  free  from  political  influence  or  control, 
and  it  is  my  wish  that  the  presidents  of  these  three 
universities  will  appoint  and  continue  in  such  trus- 
teeship only  such  men  as,  having  superior  taste 
and  good  business  ability,  will  carefully  and  con- 
servatively manage  the  trust  estate  for  the  best  in- 
terests of  all  concerned."  It  was  characteristic  that 
he  should  direct  that  all  investments  made  for  the 
estate  must  be  made  in  real  estate  or  real  estate 
mortgages,  the  property  to  be  situated  within  one 
hundred  miles  of  Kansas  City. 

The  disposition  of  The  Star  itself  was  of  very 
great  concern  to  Mr.  Nelson,  and  he  studied  the 
problem  for  years.  He  finally  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  uncertainties  of  a  trusteeship 
made  it  inadvisable  to  attempt  to  continue  the 
newspaper  beyond  the  lifetime  of  his  family  and 
those  who  had  been  associated  with  him  in  build- 
ing it  up.  He,  therefore,  put  it  in  charge  of  his  wife 
and  daughter  as  trustees,  with  the  provision  that 
after  their  death  it  was  to  be  disposed  of,  the 
proceeds  going  into  the  trust  fund.  The  policy 
of  the  trustees  toward  The  Star  was  set  forth  in 


182       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

an  editorial  under  the  heading,  "  In  His  Spirit," 
signed  by  Mrs.  Nelson  and  Mrs.  Kirk  wood  after 
the  will  was  made  public.  The  editorial  follows :  — 

The  Star  was  dedicated  by  Mr.  Nelson  to  great 
purposes  and  high  ideals  in  the  service  of  humanity 

to  honest  elections,  to  democratic  government, 

to  the  abolition  of  special  privilege,  to  fair  dealing 
on  the  part  of  public  service  corporations,  to  larger 
opportunities  for  boys  and  girls,  to  progress  to- 
ward social  and  industrial  justice,  to  all  things  that 
make  for  the  richer,  fuller  life  that  he  coveted 
passionately  for  every  man,  woman  and  child. 

Particularly  was  it  dedicated  to  the  advance- 
ment of  Kansas  City.  Whatever  helped  the  city 
The  Star  was  for.  Whatever  hurt  the  city  The 
Star  was  against.  For  thirty-five  years  this  news- 
paper has  warred  with  all  the  resources  at  its 
command  against  election  thievery,  against  boss 
rule,  against  grasping  corporations  that  came  to 
the  town  only  to  make  money  out  of  it,  against 
the  whole  brood  of  enemies  of  Kansas  City.  For 
thirty-five  years  it  has  given  its  zealous  support 
to  every  movement  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  city. 
There  has  been  no  citizen,  no  matter  what  his 
station,  but  has  known  that  if  he  came  forward 
with  a  practical,  effective  plan  for  the  city's  bene- 
fit, he  could  count  on  the  heartiest  help  and  co- 
operation from  The  Star. 

Mr.  Nelson  never  regarded  his  newspaper  as  a 


HIS  ALL  TO  THE  PEOPLE  183 

commercial  proposition.  To  him  it  was  always  a 
sacred  trust. 

Those  to  whom  this  trusteeship  has  fallen  recog- 
nize the  heavy  responsibility  and  obligation  now 
theirs.  In  meeting  this  responsibility  and  this  ob- 
ligation they  are  depending  on  his  associates  on 
the  staff  who  are  in  complete  sympathy  with  his 
ideals,  and  who  will  have  the  active  management 
of  the  paper.  It  is  the  one  aim  of  the  trustees  and 
associates  alike  that  his  spirit  shall  direct  The 
Star's  policies,  and  that  it  shall  continue  to  fight, 
as  he  would  have  it  fight,  for  righteousness  and 
justice  and  the  common  good,  and  for  the  greater, 
nobler  city  of  his  dreams. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

IN   CONCLUSION  :  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK 

No  final  estimate  can  be  made  at  this  time  of  the 
life  and  work  of  William  R.  Nelson.  But  it  may 
be  worth  while  to  summarize  in  conclusion  the 
course  of  his  development  into  the  great  radical 
editor,  the  things  he  stood  for,  the  methods  by 
which  he  worked,  and  the  personal  impression  he 
made  on  his  associates. 

It  is  an  interesting  problem  why  this  success- 
ful young  Hoosier  contractor,  saturated  with  West- 
ern Nineteenth  Century  individualism,  should  have 
developed  into  an  editor  wholly  absorbed  in  com- 
munity matters,  with  his  energies  completely 
socialized.  The  solution  is  to  be  sought  in  the 
natural  bent  of  his  temperament  in  connection 
with  the  opportunities  that  he  carved  out  for  him- 
self. 

At  the  time  he  founded  The  Star  he  was  evi- 
dently well  on  his  way.  The  tone  and  make-up 
of  the  paper  in  the  first  years  of  his  editorship 
were  strikingly  like  the  tone  and  make-up  in  the 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK  185 

last  years.  The  influence  of  Tilden  was  doubtless 
effective  in  directing  his  attention  toward  public 
affairs.  But  back  of  everything  was  a  natural  in- 
surgency, an  instinctive  love  of  fair  play,  and  a 
general  bigness  of  mental  equipment  that  could 
not  be  satisfied  with  guiding  the  development  of  a 
single  life,  but  that  sought  its  satisfaction  in  the 
concerns  of  men  in  the  mass. 

His  insurgency,  beginning  with  his  attempt  to 
run  away  from  home  when  a  small  boy,  was  a 
fundamental  part  of  his  nature.  The  established 
social  order  was  a  constant  challenge  to  him.  As 
a  youngster  in  Civil  War  times  he  was  shocked 
that  men,  but  not  money,  should  be  subject  to 
conscription.  "  We  were  ready  to  step  in  and 
force  men  to  give  up  their  lives,"  he  used  to  say, 
"  but  when  it  came  to  the  money  of  the  capitalists, 
we  came  bowing  and  scraping  with  our  hats  under 
our  arms,  and  offering  to  pay  the  highest  rate. 
We  were  ready  to  pay  the  soldiers  in  greenbacks, 
but  we  were  almighty  careful  to  pay  the  bond- 
holders in  gold."  The  supremacy  of  human  rights 
over  property  rights  became  part  of  his  creed. 

With  these  ideas  and  this  energy  turned  into 
newspaper  channels,   it  was    inevitable  that   he 


186       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

should  become  a  powerful  champion  of  thorough- 
going democracy.  He  really  believed  in  the  peo- 
ple. Not  that  they  were  always  right,  but  that  in 
the  long  run  they  could  always  be  depended  on 
to  be  right.  This  belief  did  not  affect  his  political 
attitude  alone.  It  permeated  his  whole  business 
life.  He  was  ready  to  stake  everything  on  the 
assumption  that  the  people  would  support  the 
best  newspaper  he  could  possibly  publish.  It  was 
this  confidence  that  made  it  possible  for  him  to 
print  in  a  city  of  the  size  of  Kansas  City  a  news- 
paper of  the  sort  that  ordinarily  could  be  sup- 
ported only  in  a  city  of  a  million  people. 

A  slight  incident  will  illustrate  his  fundamental 
attitude.  Many  years  ago  a  presidential  aspirant 
visited  Kansas  City.  Mr.  Nelson  was  one  of  those 
invited  to  meet  him  in  the  evening.  A  crowd  gath- 
ered outside  demanding  a  speech.  Finally  the  can- 
didate got  up  to  respond.  "I  suppose  I  must  go 
out  and  say  something  to  the  'dear  people,' "  he 
said  apologetically.  Mr.  Nelson  never  got  over  the 
contemptuous  reference.  "  It  seemed  really  shock- 
ing to  me,"  he  said  in  telling  of  it  years  later,  "  that 
a  man  who  sought  the  highest  office  from  the  peo- 
ple should  refer  to  them  so  contemptuously/' 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK  187 

Bound  up  with  his  democracy  was  his  passion 
for  the  square  deal.  He  had  the  most  whole-souled 
contempt  for  the  man  who  desired  a  special  privi- 
lege of  any  sort.  That  was  why  the  protective 
tariff  stirred  his  indignation.  He  could  run  his 
business  without  any  help  from  the  Government. 
Why  should  the  Government  help  a  lot  of  favored 
manufacturers  ?  He  came  to  have  no  patience  with 
franchises  for  public  utilities.  What  most  disgusted 
him  was  the  fact  that  such  franchises  were  usually 
obtained  as  a  speculation  and  not  for  the  purpose 
of  public  service.  But  in  addition  he  finally  con- 
cluded that  a  franchise  was  a  temptation  to  laziness 
on  the  part  of  the  corporation  getting  it. 

"  If  I  owned  the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway," 
he  often  said,  "  I  would  run  it  just  as  I  try  to  run 
The  Star.  I  would  n't  ask  for  a  franchise.  I  would 
simply  furnish  such  good  service  that  the  people 
would  always  be  scared  to  death  for  fear  I  would 
go  out  of  business." 

His  restless  energy  welcomed  change.  A  stag- 
nant society  had  no  charms  for  him.  "  A  lot  of 
coupon-clippers,"  he  once  said,  "  think  there  ought 
to  be  some  form  of  investment  that  would  be  ab- 
solutely secure  for  their  children  and  their  chil- 


188        WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

dren's  children.  But  a  society  that  gets  to  relying 
on  investments  for  its  income  will  die  of  dry  rot. 
A  great  people  must  constantly  be  on  the  alert, 
ready  to  take  care  of  themselves.  Things  ought  n't 
to  be  too  stable.  Give  the  young  fellows  a  chance 
to  show  what 's  in  them.  Don't  let  them  get  to 
sitting  back  and  relying  on  what  the  old  man  did." 
While  The  Star  did  not  support  Bryan  in  1896, 
its  editor  was  never  worried  over  the  threat  against 
the  monetary  standard.  Out  of  turmoil  and  stress  he 
believed  progress  would  come.  The  Star  constantly 
cried  woe  unto  them  that  were  at  ease  in  Zion. 

It  was  a  striking  paradox  that  a  man,  known 
everywhere  as  a  daring  radical,  a  veritable  fire- 
brand, should  have  been  so  conservative  in  his 
methods.  He  could  not  tolerate  screaming  head- 
lines. He  steadfastly  refused  to  make  The  Star  a 
"  picture  paper."  He  insisted  on  good  taste  in  every 
department.  He  kept  his  personality  severely  in 
the  background.  He  had  supreme  confidence  in  the 
power  of  an  idea  to  work  itself  into  the  lives  of 
people.  As  to  the  form  in  which  the  idea  was 
dressed  he  was  comparatively  indifferent.  Let  the 
idea  be  presented  often  enough  —  "  Sneak  up  on 
people  with  it  enough  times,"  he  would  say  — 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK  189 

and  he  knew  it  would  win.  «  Print  one  article  on 
commission  government,"  he  said  at  a  staff  con- 
ference, "  and  nobody  will  read  it.  But  if  every 
few  days  there  is  a  little  article  on  commission 
government,  reprinted  from  Collier's  or  the  Out- 
look or  some  other  magazine  or  newspaper,  or  in 
the  shape  of  an  interview  with  somebody  from  a 
commission  government  city,  or  perhaps  in  a  letter 
from  a  conscientious  reader,  or  in  the  editorial  — 
why,  by  and  by  a  few  people  here  and  there  will 
begin  to  know  there  is  such  a  thing,  and  after  a 
few  years  the  city  will  have  commission  govern- 
ment without  knowing  how  it  got  it." 

This  conservatism  in  method  was  the  expression 
of  his  essential  character.  He  was  built  on  sub- 
stantiality. He  could  no  more  tolerate  anything 
showy  or  flashy  or  insincere  in  his  newspaper  than 
he  could  in  his  houses  or  in  his  own  dress.  The 
Star's  success  must  be  founded  on  merit  alone.  "  If 
we  have  to  give  away  alarm  clocks  to  get  people 
to  take  The  Star,  we'll  go  out  of  business,"  he 
would  say.  It  was  a  maxim  with  him  that  "the 
only  justifiable  monopoly  is  the  monopoly  of  ex- 
cellence." He  had  absolute  faith  that  excellence 
would  win. 


190        WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

A  man  with  such  a  temperament  might  readily 
have  proved  a  visionary.  But  he  had  practical  cau- 
tion in  large  measure  with  his  daring  imagination. 
It  is  an  unusual  combination.  He  loved  to  give  his 
imagination  free  rein.  But  before  time  for  action 
came  he  would  give  the  most  careful  considera- 
tion to  what  he  did.  "Hold  on/'  he  would  say; 
"  maybe  somebody  can  shoot  this  thing  full  of 
holes."  And  he  would  give  everybody  a  chance 
to  shoot — until  his  mind  was  made  up  one  way  or 
the  other.  If  the  negative  arguments  appealed  to 
him  as  sound,  he  would  change  in  a  minute,  for 
he  was  too  sure  of  himself  to  have  any  mere  pride 
of  opinion.  Indeed,  he  would  humorously  recog- 
nize his  right  to  change  his  mind.  "This  is  the  way 
I  feel  now,"  he  would  say.  "  To-morrow  I  may 
look  at  it  differently,  and  if  I  do  I  don't  know  that 
any  of  you  fellows  need  remind  me  of  it." 

It  was  natural  that  a  man  of  this  dynamic  tem- 
perament, of  this  "demoniacal  energy,"  —  to  use 
W.  T.  Stead's  characterization  of  Gladstone,  — ■ 
would  make  enemies,  and  that  his  character  should 
be  misunderstood.  His  enemies,  of  whom  he  had 
a  large  assortment,  deserve  more  than  a  passing 
mention.   They  constituted  a  really  important  ele- 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK  191 

ment  in  his  life.  No  man  ever  had  more  bitter 
and  more  aggressive  enemies,  and  no  man  ever 
valued  enemies  more.  To  him  they  seemed  a  sort 
of  certificate  of  character.  "The  most  clubs,"  he 
would  say,  "are  always  lying  under  the  best 
apple  tree."  A  newspaper  that  was  up  to  its  job, 
he  felt,  would  constantly  be  stepping  on  people's 
toes  and  making  itself  unpopular.  Its  usefulness 
would  be  measured  by  the  number  and  vigor  of 
men  who  hated  it.  The  Star  made  its  first  group 
of  enemies  when  it  pushed  through  the  park  and 
boulevard  system.  The  system  was  far  ahead 
of  public  sentiment,  and  a  large  number  of  per- 
sons, smarting  under  the  taxation  inevitably  in- 
volved, became  convinced  that  The  Star's  editor 
was  an  enemy  to  society.  The  park  system  was 
no  sooner  out  of  the  way  than  The  Star  was  busy 
with  other  crusades  — against  spoilsmen  and  graft- 
ers in  city  and  State,  against  the  liquor  interests 
that  were  controlling  politics,  and  finally  against 
the  street-railway  company  that  was  seeking  to 
put  over  an  unjust  franchise  extension.  What 
such  a  combination  of  interests  is  capable  of  has 
been  demonstrated  time  and  time  again  in  various 
American  cities. 


192        WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

They  turned  on  Mr.  Nelson  with  such  a  cam- 
paign of  slander  as  rarely  has  fallen  to  any  man. 
Day  after  day  he  was  described  by  political  speak- 
ers and  by  newspaper  organs  of  the  street-railway 
company  as  a  blackmailer,  a  grafter,  a  boss  of  the 
most  despicable  type.  Specific  instances  were 
given  where  he  was  supposed  to  have  received 
money  corruptly.  It  was  charged  that  he  was  an 
escaped  criminal  from  Indiana.  No  accusation  was 
too  reckless  to  be  brought  against  him.  He  paid 
no  attention  to  the  slanders.  It  is  the  exact  truth 
that  he  never  saw  a  copy  of  the  various  organs 
of  the  street  railway  that  led  the  gang.  "  If  I  paid 
attention  to  what  other  fellows  are  saying,"  he 
would  comment,  "I  might  get  away  from  my 
job  and  go  to  answering  back."  Sometimes  his 
associates  would  lose  their  temper  and  would  urge 
that  he  bring  suit  for  slander.  "  What 's  the  use  ? " 
he  would  reply.  "  I  have  lived  in  this  community 
and  published  a  newspaper  here  for  thirty  years. 
My  neighbors  in  Kansas  City  know  me.  If  they 
think  I  'm  a  rascal,  a  court  decision  would  n't 
alter  their  opinion.  Besides,  I  've  got  more  im- 
portant things  to  do.  If  I  should  go  after  all  the 
fellows  who  've  lied   about   me,  I   would   be  in 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK  193 

court  the  rest  of  my  natural  life."  His  funda- 
mental distrust  of  courts  perhaps  affected  his  atti- 
tude. In  a  long  life  he  never  appeared  in  court 
of  his  own  volition.  Once  when  summoned  as  a 
juror,  the  judge  asked  if  he  knew  any  reason 
why  he  could  not  serve  impartially  on  that  par- 
ticular case.  "  None,"  he  replied,  "  except  my 
contempt  for  any  man  who  goes  to  a  court  of  law 
to  get  justice." 

To  the  very  last  his  enemies  hoped  to  "get 
something  on  him "  somewhere.  As  the  Kansas 
City  field  proved  barren,  they  periodically  sent 
searchers  back  to  Indiana  —  to  his  vast  amuse- 
ment. On  one  occasion  a  group  of  his  bitterest 
haters  found  an  opportunity  to  bring  a  libel  suit 
against  him.  In  Missouri  libel  suits  against  im- 
portant newspapers  have  been  political  contests 
rather  than  suits  at  law.  It  has  been  a  saying  that 
independent  newspapers  have  been  tried,  not  for 
libel  but  for  treason  to  the  Democratic  Party.  For 
the  trial  of  this  suit  a  change  of  venue  was  taken 
to  a  county  that  was  vehemently  hostile  to  the  poli- 
cies The  Star  advocated.  The  leading  lawyer  for 
the  prosecution  had  a  reputation  for  reckless  in- 
vective. He  was  an  habitual  Star  baiter  and  had 


194       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

boasted  that  when  he  got  The  Star's  editor  on  the 
stand  he  would  "  show  him  up  "  as  a  boodler  and 
grafter.  At  the  end  of  the  direct  examination  Mr. 
Nelson  turned  to  his  attorney :  "  Don't  object  to 
any  questions  the  other  side  may  ask,"  he  said. 
"My  life  is  an  open  book.  I  have  absolutely  noth- 
ing to  conceal."  And  not  an  impertinent  ques- 
tion was  put  to  him.  Never  was  he  treated  with 
more  consideration  than  by  the  blustering  lawyer 
who  had  been  threatening  to  "tear  him  to  pieces." 
His  character  could  have  seemed  complex  and 
perplexing  only  to  those  who  had  no  conception 
of  his  aims  and  aspirations  and  who  measured  his 
motives  by  the  low  standard  of  "  What  is  there  in 
it  for  me?"  Men  who  were  at  all  familiar  with 
him  could  predict  his  attitude  and  The  Star's  at- 
titude toward  any  given  problem.  Is  it  right? 
What  is  best  for  Kansas  City,  or  the  State  or  the 
country?  Those  were  the  questions  he  always 
put.  When  a  constitutional  amendment  was  pro- 
posed, for  instance,  to  take  away  from  newspapers 
a  lot  of  unnecessary  and  costly  advertising  con- 
nected with  charter  elections,  a  change  which 
would  cost  The  Star  thousands  of  dollars  every 
year,  nobody  on  the  staff  had  a  shadow  of  a  doubt 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK  195 

as  to  what  The  Star's  position  would  be.  It  would 
support  the  amendment  vigorously,  of  course. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  not  one  of  the  men 
who  blackguarded  him  knew  him  personally,  and 
that  no  man  ever  knew  him  personally  without 
giving  him  warm  admiration  and  regard. 

If  he  had  made  it  a  point  to  know  more  per- 
sons it  is  quite  possible  that  his  assailants  could 
not  have  conducted  their  campaigns  of  slander  so 
recklessly.  But  he  did  not  care  to  spend  time 
away  from  home  or  the  office.  He  never  fre- 
quented clubs.  It  was  his  custom  to  drive  directly 
home  from  the  office,  and  while  he  was  a  delight- 
ful host  he  did  not  entertain  extensively.  He  was 
constantly  besought  to  serve  on  committees  and 
to  "sit  next  the  speaker"  at  dinners  to  dis- 
tinguished guests.  But  he  rarely  acquiesced.  He 
boasted  that  he  never  had  been  a  vice-president 
of  anything  or  a  dummy  director  in  all  his  life. 
His  natural  inclination  was  backed  by  a  theory 
that  an  editor  had  no  business  to  have  friends. 
They  would  be  apt  to  influence  him  away  from 
his  line  of  duty,  he  thought.  The  consequence 
was  that  most  of  the  people  of  Kansas  City  never 
had  seen  Mr.  Nelson.    To  them  he  was  a  sort  of 


196       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

mythical  character.  When  he  consented  to  attend 
a  luncheon  to  two  Cabinet  officers  who  were  can- 
vassing the  country  on  the  question  of  the  federal 
reserve  banks,  business  men  flocked  over  to  the 
club  to  have  the  editor  of  The  Star  pointed  out  to 
them.  He  always  sought  to  sink  his  own  person- 
ality in  the  newspaper.  Until  the  very  latest  years 
no  sketch  of  him  had  ever  appeared  in  a  news- 
paper or  magazine.  "  It  is  n't  W.  R.  Nelson  that 
is  shooting  off  his  mouth  in  the  paper,"  he  would 
say ;  "  it 's  The  Star.  I  'd  like  to  give  that  fellow 
thunder  myself.  But  I  suppose  The  Star  ought  to 
restrain  itself." 

He  had  a  humorous  recognition  of  those  human 
weaknesses  which  endeared  him  to  those  about  him. 
He  was  a  good  hater,  and  he  knew  it.  On  one  oc- 
casion he  invited  suggestions  from  every  member 
of  the  staff.  A  reporter  handed  in  one  urging  that 
The  Star  be  a  little  gentler  in  its  treatment  of  a 
particularly  offensive  blackguard.  He  called  the  re- 
porter over.  "All  right,  young  fellow,"  he  said. 
"Let's  make  a  bargain.  You  forgive  my  enemies 
and  I  '11  forgive  yours." 

"  When  I  start  in  on  a  campaign,"  he  once  said, 
"  I  think  I  'm  going  to  be  just  as  reasonable  and 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK  197 

polite  as  can  be.  But  before  long  I  get  so  inter- 
ested that  I  can't  help  breaking  over  and  using  a 
club." 

As  William  Allen  White  said,  he  "  exuded  char- 
acter." "Early  in  his  career  in  Kansas  City  he  be- 
came *  Colonel.'  Not  that  he  was  ever  colonel  of 
anything;  he  was  justColoneliferous."  Personally 
he  was  a  striking  figure.  Mr.  White  spoke  of  his 
"general  Himalayan  effect  as  he  loomed  behind  a 
desk."  Julian  Street,  in  his  travel  series  for  Col- 
lier's, described  him  as  more  like  a  volcano  than 
any  man  he  had  ever  met.  "  He  is  even  shaped  like 
one,"  said  Mr.  Street,  "  being  mountainous  in  his 
proportions  and  also  in  the  way  he  tapers  upward 
from  his  vast  waist  to  his  snow-capped  « peak.' 
Even  the  voice  which  proceeds  from  the  Colonel's 
'crater'  is  Vesuvian;  hoarse,  deep,  rumbling, 
strong.  When  he  speaks  great  natural  forces  seem 
to  stir,  and  you  hope  no  eruption  will  occur  while 
you  are  near  lest  the  fire  from  the  mountain  de- 
scend upon  you  and  destroy  you." 

His  feelings,  which  were  so  easily  aroused,  were 
always  under  control  in  his  relations  with  his  as- 
sociates. Men  who  had  been  in  daily  contact  with 
him  for  thirty  years  had  never  known  him  to  lose 


198       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

his  temper  toward  a  member  of  the  staff.  All  he 
asked  was  the  assurance  that  a  man  was  loyal  to 
The  Star  and  was  doing  his  best.  Then  mistakes 
were  to  be  forgotten.  If  he  did  n't  like  a  piece  of 
work  he  was  perfectly  free  to  say  so.  But  he  in- 
variably spoke  of  the  defects  in  an  impersonal  sort 
of  way.  He  never  issued  an  order.  His  "Don't 
you  think  it  might  be  a  good  scheme  to  do  so  and 
so?"  was  recognized  as  the  policy  of  the  paper. 

His  point  of  view  was  so  original,  he  brought 
such  a  variety  of  experience  and  such  freshness  of 
suggestion  to  every  problem  that  members  of  the 
staff  looked  forward  with  keen  interest  to  the  in- 
formal conferences  he  was  so  fond  of. 

His  conversation  was  full  of  piquant,  homely 
phrases.  He  abominated  formal,  conventional  ways 
of  putting  things.  "The  reason  Ingersoll  made 
such  a  hit  in  his  lectures,"  he  once  remarked,  "was 
because  when  everybody  else  was  using  stilted 
language,  he  talked  in  the  language  of  everyday 
life.  His  < honest  Injun,'  'cross  your  heart,'  and  all 
that  got  to  people." 

He  was  particularly  interested  in  developing 
young  men.  For  several  years  before  his  death 
he  kept  no  regular  correspondent  for  The  Star  in 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK  199 

Washington.  "  If  a  man  stays  in  Washington  he 
gets  the  idea  that  he  is  a  statesman  and  not  a  re- 
porter/' he  said.  "  WTe  '11  keep  sending  our  young 
men  on  there  and  bringing  them  home  after  a 
session  of  Congress.  It's  good  training  for  them, 
and  I  'm  a  whole  lot  more  interested  in  making 
newspaper  men  than  in  reporting  in  The  Star  who 
got  the  last  Kansas  post-office." 

It  was  he  who  first  suggested  the  organizing  of 
a  club  to  interest  itself  in  the  city  in  order  to  give 
young  men  an  opportunity  to  take  a  hand  in  public 
affairs.  This  organization  became  the  City  Club  of 
Kansas  City. 

His  interest  in  young  men  was  one  phase  of  his 
general  interest  in  the  future.  When  he  was  over 
seventy,  he  received  pressing  invitations  from  the 
editors  of  two  leading  magazines  to  write  for  them 
a  series  of  reminiscences.  "Those  fellows  must 
think  I  'm  getting  old,"  he  snorted.  "  I  'd  have 
them  know  that  to-morrow  is  what  interests  me, 
not  yesterday.  My  nose  is  to  the  front."  A  friend 
asked  him  why  he  would  not  sit  on  the  platform 
at  a  great  political  meeting  in  which  he  was  much 
interested.  "  So  long  as  I  don't  show  myself," 
he  replied,  "  I  may  keep  the  illusion  for  the  public 


200       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

that  I'm  a  dashing  young  blade."  To  the  end  he 
was  youthful  in  his  enthusiasms,  in  his  interests, 
in  his  whole  view  of  life.  Defeat  and  disappoint- 
ment never  clouded  his  hope.  He  was  always  con- 
fident, as  some  one  put  it,  "that  the  particular  seg- 
ment of  the  millennium  he  sought  was  just  around 
the  corner.5' 

The  editor  of  The  Star  must  be  judged,  of 
course,  in  his  public  capacity.  But  to  those  who 
were  in  contact  with  him  his  personality  was  the 
dominant  fact.  As  his  friend,  Mr.  Epperson,  wrote 
after  his  death :  "  He  expanded  my  ideas  of  the 
duties  of  citizenship.  Merely  to  be  honest  and  to 
believe  in  the  right  did  not,  in  his  opinion,  make 
a  good  citizen."  Nobody  could  associate  with  him 
without  receiving  broader  vision,  higher  inspira- 
tion, stronger  courage.  It  was  not  one  of  the  least 
of  his  achievements  that  for  scores,  perhaps  hun- 
dreds, of  men  who  worked  with  him,  life  was 
made  vastly  richer  and  more  worth  while ;  that 
their  attitude  and  point  of  view  were  transformed. 

The  saying  is  that  no  man  is  a  hero  to  his 
valet.  Ben,  his  faithful  household  manager,  already 
referred  to,  spoke  simply  to  a  friend  the  day 
after  the  funeral.    "I  feel,"  he  said,  "that  I  am 


////    f/  ,/-/?<>.>,;/ .  '/s't/hrrY 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK  201 

an    entirely    different   man   from    knowing    Mr. 
Nelson." 

What  The  Star  family  felt  was  expressed  in 
two  editorials  that  were  printed  a  month  before  his 
death,  but  which  he  never  saw.  The  first,  under 
the  heading,  "  Unconquerable,"  appeared  while  he 
lay  unconscious  in  an  attack  from  which  he  ral- 
lied:— 

The  habit  of  never  being  whipped,  of  always 
keeping  up  the  fight  —  that  is  the  quality  of  a 
great  leader.  The  man  who  never  admits  defeat 
is  the  man  the  world  has  to  take  into  account. 
Time  and  again  the  foes  he  is  fighting  may  think 
they  have  him  down.  But  before  they  know  it  he 
is  on  his  feet  sounding  the  advance. 

Such  a  man  moulds  events.  He  helps  create 
the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  of  the  proph- 
et's vision. 

A  mighty  force  of  the  universe  is  the  uncon- 
querable soul. 

The  second,  headed  "From  The  Star's  Staff," 

came  after  the  rally  when  his  physician  felt  he 

still  had  a  chance  of  recovering :  — 

In  Mr.  Nelson's  temporary  absence  from  the 
office  his  associates  may  say  a  little  of  what  is  in 
their  hearts,  which  they  could  not  say  were  he  on 
duty. 


202       WILLIAM  ROCKHILL  NELSON 

They  have  known  —  every  man  who  ever  has 
worked  on  The  Star  has  known  —  the  quality  of 
their  chief,  his  high  idealism,  his  soaring  vision, 
his  unfaltering  courage,  his  absolute  indifference  to 
personal  advantage,  his  passion  for  the  common 
p-ood,  his  wonderful  devotion  to  Kansas  City. 

Those  who  have  had  the  privilege  of  daily  as- 
sociation with  him  have  known  all  this.  But  they 
could  not  know  how  fully  the  readers  of  The 
Star  had  come  to  know  its  editor,  although  they 
might  have  suspected.  For  The  Star  is  W.  R. 
Nelson. 

During  the  critical  days  of  his  illness  and  since, 
they  have  been  simply  overwhelmed  by  the  ex- 
pression of  love  and  sympathy  and  admiration  from 
every  quarter  —  from  the  washerwoman  who 
stopped  with  her  bundle  at  the  office,  to  an  ex- 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  to  the  Presi- 
dent himself.  Children  have  written  affectionately. 
Letters  and  telegrams  have  come  from  distinguished 
men  of  affairs  and  from  the  important  editors  of 
the  country.  Best  of  all  there  has  been  a  flood  of 
messages  from  those  good  men  and  women  in  the 
everyday  walks  of  life,  whose  esteem  it  always 
has  been  Mr.  Nelson's  supreme  ambition  to  de- 
serve and  obtain. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  his  associates  to  put 
in  words  how  deeply  they  have  been  touched  by 
this  outpouring.  They  can  only  guess  from  their 
own  feeling  how  heartened  Mr.  Nelson  himself 


THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK  203 

will  be  when  he  is  able  to  read  what  in  times  past 
he  has  playfully  called  his  "  love  letters." 

These  have  come  in  such  numbers  that  a  per- 
sonal reply  cannot  be  made  to  every  one.  Perhaps 
this  inadequate  statement  may  serve  as  an  ac- 
knowledgment of  profound  gratitude  and  appre- 
ciation. 

To  the  men  who  worked  with  him,  Browning's 
stanza  in  the  "  Epilogue,"  quoted  by  The  Star  the 
day  of  his  death,  and  repeated  by  Bishop  Mann  at 
the  funeral,  seemed  a  literal  and  accurate  descrip- 
tion :  — 

One  who  never  turned  his  back  but  marched  breast  for- 
ward, 
Never  doubted  clouds  would  break, 
Never   dreamed   though    right   were   worsted,    wrong 

would  triumph, 
Held  we  fall  to  rise,  are  baffled  to  fight  better, 
Sleep  to  wake. 


APPENDIX 


At  the  time  of  Mr.  Nelson's  death  several 
hundred  newspapers  commented  on  his  career. 
Excerpts  from  some  of  these  comments  are  here 
printed  to  indicate  how  universal  was  the  in- 
terest in  his  life  and  how  profoundly  he  had 
affected  the  thought  of  editors  in  every  part  of 
the  country. 


NEW    YORK    CITY 

Mr.  Nelson  was  much  more  than  merely  a  great  news- 
paper man.  He  was  one  of  the  dozen  important  person- 
alities of  his  time  in  America.  The  liberal  and  progres- 
sive movement  which  arose  in  the  Middle  West  between 
ten  and  twenty  years  ago  and  came  to  dominate  the 
political  and  social  forces  of  the  period  centered  largely 
around  The  Kansas  City  Star  and  the  other  forces  of 
public  opinion  which  took  their  leadership  from  The  Star. 
It  was  not  merely  that  Mr.  Nelson,  through  his  paper, 
gave  these  forces  and  leaders  the  vehicle  for  expression 
which  was  essential  to  their  existence.  Mr.  Nelson  did 
much  more  and  was  much  more.  He  was  himself  a  pio- 
neer in  thought  and  original  source,  so  to  speak,  of  ideas 
in  public  affairs  which  stood  the  test  of  discussion  and 
later  came  to  constitute  to  a  large  degree  the  public  opin- 
ion of  the  time.  There  are  not  in  any  one  generation 
more  than  twenty  such  effective  foundations  of  thought, 
and  Mr.  Nelson  was  decidedly  one  of  the  most  forceful 
of  his  time.  It  was  this  aspect  of  Mr.  Nelson  that  most 
interested  me.  Others  no  doubt  will  discuss  him  as  a 
professional  newspaperman.  I  hope  the  occasion  will  not 
pass  without  someone  pointing  out  that  just  as  he  leaves 
the  world  the  newspapers  of  the  country  generally  are 
eating  the  dust  and  ashes  of  a  period  of  wild  and  shriek- 
ing aberrations  in  appearance  and  style  and  are  coming 


2o8  APPENDIX 

back  to  the  sobriety,  dignity,  and  stability  which  The 
Star  and  only  half  a  dozen  other  American  newspapers 
have  maintained  serenely  against  the  temptation  to  imi- 
tate yellowness  and  over-emphasis.  —  Mark  Sullivan, 
Editor  of  Collier's  Weekly,  New  York. 

Colonel  William  R.  Nelson  did  not  wait  for  others  to 
set  fashions.  He  began  things  himself.  For  more  than 
thirty  years  he  made  The  Kansas  City  Star  a  force, 
a  leader,  a  help.  He  feared  nobody.  The  forces  and 
trenches  of  money  and  society  found  him  undismayed. 
And  he  was  hard-headed  about  it.  His  specialty  was 
not  hot  air.  The  causes  for  which  he  contended  were 
immediate,  concrete.  He  dealt  not  in  isms,  but  in  the 
next  hard-fought  step  ahead.  He  never  faltered.  He 
was  big,  strong  and  sure.  The  Kansas  City  Star  has 
been  the  most  powerful  journal  of  light  between  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  the  Pacific,  and  Colonel  Nelson  was  The 
Star. — Harpers  Weekly,  New  York. 

Mr.  Nelson  stood  sincerely,  and  without  a  trace  of 
cant  or  an  offensive  superiority,  for  public  welfare ;  he 
never  could  be  accused  of  working  for  personal  cliques, 
special  interest,  or  self-seeking  partisanship.  —  The  Out- 
look, New  York. 

William  Rockhill  Nelson  was  a  Titan  among  the  news- 
papermen of  America.  In  the  largest  sense  he  was  mind- 
ful of  the  responsibility  of  his  position.  His  contempt 
for  the  editorial  pander  was  limitless.  He  gave  no  heed 
to  popular  clamor,  if  it  represented  a  temporary  emotion 


APPENDIX 


209 


opposed  to  his  conviction  of  enduring  good.  He  was  quite 
willing  to  find  himself  in  a  minority,  or,  indeed,  to  sub- 
ject himself  to  widespread  criticism,  if  he  felt  himself  in 
the  right.  He  had  no  care  for  the  comfort  of  living  at 
peace  with  his  neighbors,  if  it  meant  that  he  could  not 
live  at  peace  with  himself.  He  was  a  dauntless  soldier  for 
the  public  welfare.  As  one  who  knew  him  intimately  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  who  enjoyed  his  con- 
fidence, listened  to  his  hopes  and  fears,  and  was  stimu- 
lated by  his  unwavering  devotion  to  duty,  when,  all  the 
while,  there  was  neither  bluster  nor  parade  in  anything 
he  did,  but  only  a  set  jaw,  a  quiet  defiance  of  rascality, 
and  a  persistent  contest  against  corroding  conservatism, 
I  regard  his  passing  as  a  supreme  public  calamity.  For 
there  is  none  quite  like  him  left  in  the  newspaper  field 
to-day. — Melville  E.  Stone,  General  Manager  of  the 
Associated  Press,  in  the  Editor  and  Publisher,  New  York. 

In  his  death  the  country  has  lost  an  eminent  and 
noble  citizen  and  journalism  one  of  the  best  exemplars 
of  the  right  kind  of  independence,  courage,  ability,  and 
enterprise.  —  The  Times,  New  York. 

William  Rockhill  Nelson,  who  died  in  Kansas  City 
yesterday,  was  its  most  notable  and  useful  citizen,  a 
man  and  a  journalist  of  inexhaustible  energy,  industry, 
and  public  spirit.  Kansas  City  has  lost  more  than  a 
man.  It  has  lost  an  institution.  —  The  Sun,  New 
York. 

His  high  idealism,  his  keen  vision,  his  unfaltering 
courage,  his  indifference  to  personal  advantage,  his  pas- 


2io  APPENDIX 

sionfor  the  common  good — all  these  qualities  combined 
to  endear  him  to  hundreds  of  thousands  of  his  fellow- 
citizens.  —  The  Globe,  New  York. 

To  make  a  great  business  success  of  a  newspaper  en- 
terprise, not  by  hunting  for  all  possible  ways  of  tickling 
the  public  palate,  but  by  the  aggressive  and  consistent 
pursuit  of  a  clearly  formed  purpose,  and  by  the  asser- 
tion of  a  powerful  and  rugged  personality  —  this  is  a 
rare  achievement,  and  this  is  what  Mr.  Nelson  accom- 
plished. In  such  a  record  as  Nelson's,  Americans  may 
take  genuine  pride.  —  The  Evening  Post,  New  York. 

William  R.  Nelson,  of  The  Kansas  City  Star,  was 
one  of  the  ablest  and  most  aggressive  journalists  of 
his  day.  He  built  up  a  newspaper  with  a  personality  ; 
one  that  could  not  be  omitted  from  the  list  of  American 
journals  of  the  first  rank  in  character  and  influence.  — 
The  World,  New  York. 

He  brought  The  Star  such  originality  and  ability  that 
he  made  it  one  of  the  great  newspapers  of  the  United 
States. —  The  Tribune,  New  York. 

William  R.  Nelson  died  having  the  love  and  respect 
of  thousands  of  folks  in  his  home  town  and  elsewhere. 
—  The  Standard  Union,  Brooklyn,  New  York. 

William  R.  Nelson,  who  died  yesterday  morning, 
was  the  "  father  of  Kansas  City."  —  The  Morning  Tele- 
graph, New  York. 


APPENDIX  211 

It  is  a  loss  to  citizenship  and  to  journalism  throughout 
the  entire  country,  a  fact  which  President  Wilson  promptly 
recognized  in  his  message  of  sympathy  addressed  to  Mrs. 
Nelson.  —  The  Eagle,  Brooklyn. 

He  was  a  leader  in  every  move  taken  in  his  time  to 
improve  newspapers.  —  The  Fourth  Estate,  New  York. 

The  passing  of  such  a  vigorous,  aggressive  and  pub- 
lic-spirited personality  as  Colonel  Nelson  is  a  serious  loss 
to  journalism  because  men  of  his  type  are  already  too 
few  in  number.  —  The  Editor  and  Publisher,  New  York. 

W.  R.  Nelson  was  known  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  as  one  of  America's  big  lights  in  the  newspaper 
business.  The  Kansas  City  Star  has  been  referred  to 
as  one  of  the  three  exemplary  newspapers  of  America. 
— Newspaperdom,  Arew  York. 

In  the  conception,  development,  and  management  of 
The  Star,  Mr.  Nelson  held  to,  clung  to,  and  as  nearly 
attained  to  the  highest  ideals  as  it  is  given  to  mortals  to 
attain  them. —  The  Literary  Digest,  New  York. 


II 

THE    EAST 

The  Kansas  City  Star,  as  conceived  and  developed  by 
Colonel  Nelson,  became  a  national  newspaper  with  a 
definite  purpose  in  life,  and  a  soul  patterned  after  that 
of  the  aggressive  thinker  and  fighter  who  stood  sponsor 
for  it  during  the  creative  period  of  commercial,  industrial, 
and  political  awakening  in  the  Plains  States.  —  The  Tran- 
script, Boston. 

Mr.  Nelson's  creed  was  independence  and  public  serv- 
ice applied  to  a  newspaper  that  should  be  of  interest 
to  the  people.  He  made  The  Star  a  power  because  he 
inspired  confidence  in  its  professions  and  its  accomplish- 
ments. He  used  that  power  not  for  his  own  aggrandize- 
ment, but  for  the  bettering  of  the  city  and  state  in  which 
he  lived.  —  The  Post,  Boston. 

William  R.  Nelson  was  Kansas  City's  greatest  asset. 
—  The  Journal,  Boston. 

He  devoted  The  Star  primarily  to  works  of  upbuild- 
ing and  of  reform  in  Kansas  City.  —  The  Republicany 
Springfield,  Massachusetts. 

Only  a  man  of  exceptional  resources,  physical  and 
mental,  could  have  set  to  his  credit  such  a  manifold  record 


214 


APPENDIX 


of  good  works.  He  was  a  great  editor  and  a  splendid  ex- 
ample of  Americanism.  The  influence  of  his  prodigious 
endeavor  will  long  be  felt.  —  The  Union,  Springfield, 
Massachusetts. 

He  was  public-spirited  and  fearless,  and  there  is  no 
measuring  the  reach  of  his  great  and  righteous  influence. 
—  The  Courant,  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

American  journalism  loses  one  of  its  most  notable  per- 
sonalities in  the  death  of  William  R.  Nelson.  —  The 
Daily  Eastern  Argus,  Portland,  Maine. 

Certain  newspapers  in  this  country  set  a  standard 
imperturbably  above  the  dollar  mark,  and  The  Kansas 
City  Star,  under  Colonel  William  Rockhill  Nelson's 
editorship,  has  been  one  of  them.  — The  Ledger,  Phil- 
adelphia. 

The  Star  was  the  concrete  expression  of  patriotic 
impulse,  broad  humanness,  and  intense  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  his  neighbors,  his  fellow-citizens,  and  the 
people  of  the  country  at  large.  —  The  Bulletin,  Phila- 
delphia. 

Only  a  great  man,  clear-headed  and  devoted  to  the 
welfare  of  his  neighbors,  could  edit  an  inland  newspaper 
so  brilliantly  as  to  make  it  famous  throughout  the  United 
States.  William  R.  Nelson  did  that.  —  The  Telegraph, 
Philadelphia. 

He  and  his  newspaper  constituted  a  most  energetic 
force  for  development  and  betterment  of  the  Missouri 


APPENDIX 


215 


city  that  it  was  his  pride  to  beautify.  —  The  Post,  Pitts- 
burgh. 

It  is  notable  that  his  last  editorial  conference  was  held 
in  his  sick  room  and  had  for  its  subject  the  keeping  up 
of  the  fight  for  honest  elections,  which  he  recognized  he 
might  not  live  to  see  won,  but  which  was,  he  declared, 
fundamental  for  honest  government.  —  The  Dispatch, 
Pittsburgh. 

William  R.  Nelson  was  a  national  figure  in  journal- 
ism; to  our  mind  the  greatest  figure.  And  we  knew 
him  only  from  what  he  made  —  only  from  his  news- 
paper. The  innate  nobility  of  the  man  shone  out  from 
the  pages  of  it.  He  made  The  Star  an  instrument 
of  public  service.  He  was  no  preacher;  he  was  a  cru- 
sader. And  truth  rode  at  his  side.  —  The  Journal,  Ni- 
agara Falls,  New  York. 

For  thirty-five  years  he  saw  his  duty  to  be  the  peo- 
ple's spokesman,  and  fulfilled  that  duty  with  greater 
success  than  any  other  man  of  his  time.  —  The  News, 
Buffalo,  New  York. 

In  truth,  he  was,  for  more  than  a  generation,  a  shin- 
ing credit  to  his  profession  as  well  as  a  public  benefactor 
who  utilized  his  vast  opportunities  with  splendid  efficacy 
to  elevate  political  life  and  improve  social  conditions 
throughout  the  broad  territory  served  by  his  newspapers. 
—  The  Herald,  Syracuse,  New  York. 

William  R.  Nelson  was  a  man  of  high  ideals.  —  The 
Times,  Troy,  New  York. 


2i6  APPENDIX 

Lionlike  is  the  word  that  best  describes  him.  Bitterly 
hated  by  his  enemies  and  devotedly  loved  by  his  friends, 
he  fought  for  the  right  as  he  saw  it  with  a  courage,  a 
force  and  ability  that  were  irresistible.  A  great,  bold, 
warm-hearted,  red-blooded,  iron- willed  man  —  his  death 
is  a  loss  to  his  State  and  to  his  Nation,  and  it  will  be  a 
long  time,  if  ever,  before  another  Nelson  rises  up  in  the 
Missouri  Valley.  —  The  Sun,  Baltimore ,  Maryland. 

His  newspaper  and  what  he  has  done  through  it  are  a 
monument  of  which  any  man  might  be  proud.  —  The 
News,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

A  good,  clean  fighter  has  been  removed  from  the 
arena  in  the  death  of  William  Rockhill  Nelson,  owner 
of  The  Kansas  City  Star,  and  one  of  the  ablest  editors 
in  the  country. —  The  Post,  Washington. 

He  was  for  high  civic  ideals  and  was  a  power  for  good. 

—  The  Star,  Washington. 

He  leaves  the  impress  of  his  aspirations  upon  the 
whole  great  community  where  that  newspaper  circulated. 

—  The  Times,  Washington. 


Ill 

THE    MIDDLE   WEST 

He  was  a  sturdy  fighter  for  a  greater  and  more  beautiful 
Kansas  City  —  for  a  Kansas  City  that  would  mean  some- 
thing more  than  just  money-making.  He  Mas  beaten 
time  after  time  —  but  he  fought  on.  It  became  a  saving 
in  his  own  town  that  you  couldn't  really  beat  "Bill" 
Nelson;  he  "never  knew  when  he  was  licked!  "  Com- 
promise with  any  power  he  regarded  as  evil  was  for  him 
simply  unthinkable. 

He  was  a  big  man  —  mentally  and  physically.  He 
died  "a  happy  warrior,"  thankful  for  "a  long  life,  with 
great  opportunities  for  usefulness,"  and  regretting  only 
that  he  "had  not  accomplished  more."  Peace  to  his 
ashes;  honor  to  his  memory!  —  The  Herald,  Chicago. 

Of  course,  The  Star  was  William  R.  Nelson.  With 
the  rugged  old  man,  friend  of  presidents  and  boot- 
blacks, gone  out  of  it,  what  will  it  be?  There  is  some- 
thing of  importance  to  America  in  the  question.  That 
it  should  be  so  is  Colonel  Nelson's  finest  tribute.  —  The 
Post,  Chicago. 

In  the  death  of  Colonel  W.  R.  Nelson  at  Kansas  City 
yesterday,  Fort  Wayne  feels  the  loss  as  deeply  as  though 
he  was  still  a  resident  of  this  city.  Colonel  Nelson  was 
a  Fort  Wayne  product,  and  naturally  Fort  Wayne  has 


218  APPENDIX 

always  taken  a  deep  interest  in  his  career.  Furthermore, 
the  city  has  always  felt  as  though  he  still  belonged  here, 
as  though  his  residence  in  Kansas  City  was  merely  that 
of  a  transient.  Aside  from  the  sorrow  felt  at  the  death  of 
Colonel  Nelson  because  of  its  local  significance,  his  death 
takes  from  journalism  one  of  the  most  unique  figures  in 
the  world.  Colonel  Nelson  was  a  pugnacious  fighter.  He 
continually  fought  for  the  betterment  of  Kansas  City,  for 
better  newspaper  ideals,  and  for  purity  in  politics.  As  a 
fighter  he  naturally  made  many  bitter  enemies,  but  in  his 
death  enemies  and  friends  alike  will  unite  in  declaring 
that  his  work  has  left  a  deep  and  abiding  impression 
on  Kansas  City,  the  Southwest,  and  the  country,  and 
that  the  sum  total  of  this  impression  has  been  and  will 
continue  to  be  of  tremendous  worth.  —  The  News,  Fort 
Wayne,  Indiana. 

The  death  of  William  Rockhill  Nelson,  while  it  re- 
moves from  the  newspaper  world  one  of  its  most  com- 
manding figures,  has  a  peculiar  local  interest  because  of 
the  fact  that  Fort  Wayne  was  the  birthplace  and  scene 
of  the  early  endeavors  of  Mr.  Nelson. 

Colonel  Nelson  was  of  a  family  whose  pioneer  history 
was  closely  interwoven  with  the  history  of  Fort  Wayne, 
and  to  which  Fort  Wayne  owes  much  of  its  early  prog- 
ress and  the  sound,  conservative  foundation  upon  which 
its  present  greatness  rests. 

So  while  for  many  years  Colonel  Nelson  had  been 
away  from  Fort  Wayne,  the  ties  of  kinship  and  warm 
friendship  bound  closely  and  his  career  was  watched 
with  the  closest  interest  and  feeling  of  actual  pride.  It  is 


APPENDIX  219 

not  too  much  to  say  that  Colonel  Nelson's  influence  for 
the  elevation  of  newspaper  standards  has  been  more 
marked  than  that  of  any  one  man  in  the  history  of  the 
press  of  the  Nation.  Colonel  Nelson  was  ever  champion 
of  the  right,  the  implacable  foe  of  that  which  was  selfish 
and  narrow.  He  paid  blind  obedience  to  no  man,  no  party, 
but  convinced  that  men  and  measures  were  for  the  best 
and  were  conceived  in  purity  of  spirit  and  motive,  he 
supported  them  as  fervently  and  forcefully  as  he  fought 
the  wrong. 

The  Nation  will  long  feel  the  loss  of  Colonel  Nelson's 
commanding  personality,  his  warm  heart,  and  his  fear- 
less championship  of  the  right. —  The  Journal-Gazette, 
Fort  Wayne,  Indiana. 

To  Mr.  Nelson,  perhaps,  more  than  to  any  other 
single  individual,  is  due  the  phenomenal  progress  Kan- 
sas City  has  made.  —  The  Daily  Pantograph,  Bloom- 
in  gton,  Illinois. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  a  man  of  fine  character  and  strong 
convictions  and  was  possessed  of  a  public  spirit  and 
courage  that  led  him  fearlessly  to  promote  reforms  in 
the  people's  interest  in  the  face  of  powerful  antagonism. 
—  The  Star,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

The  death  of  William  R.  Nelson  will  be  mourned 
by  many  people  outside  the  Missouri  River  territory.  — 
The  Nexus,  Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

The  Jews  of  the  entire  country  owe  a  debt  of  grati- 
tude to  his    memory   for   the    fairness,   freedom  from 


220  APPENDIX 

prejudice,  and  friendliness  with  which  The  Star  was 
conducted.  —  The  American  Israelite,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  death  of  William  R.  Nelson  means  a  loss  to 
journalism,  for  a  spirit  has  flown  which,  though  redolent 
of  the  pioneer  West,  acknowledged  no  geographical 
limits  to  its  Americanism.  —  The  Plain  Dealer,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio. 

There  is  not  a  newspaper  in  the  United  States  that  is 
not  paying  tribute  this  week  to  the  memory  of  William 
R.  Nelson.  —  The  Daily  Nexus,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

His  fearlessness,  his  ideals,  his  forcefulness,  his  clear- 
ness moulded  public  thought.  —  The  Free  Press,  De- 
troit, Michigan. 

This  militant  newspaper  was  a  distinct  commercial 
asset  to  Kansas  City.    It  energized  the  community.  — 

The  Journal,  Detroit,  Michigan. 

No  great  success  is  won  without  great  faith  in  the 
work.  At  almost  any  time  within  the  last  twenty  years 
Colonel  Nelson  might  have  had  high  diplomatic  position, 
but  his  answer  was  that  as  head  of  his  newspaper  he 
held  a  higher  position  than  the  President  or  even  the 
electorate  could  confer  upon  him.  From  so  great  a  faith 
in  his  calling,  so  great  a  determination  to  keep  faith  with 
that  calling,  he  won  the  success,  which  meant,  after  all, 
but  the  opportunity  for  greater  service.  —  The  Journal, 
Milwaukee,  Wisconsin. 

He  seemed  to  appreciate  more  than  most  of  his  con- 
temporaries  the  educational  function  of  a  newspaper 


APPENDIX  221 

and  this  feature  he  constantly  promoted.  When  it 
seemed  to  him  that  the  machinery  of  common  justice 
was  yielding  to  class  pressure  or  to  reactionary  preju- 
dice, he  slammed  it  as  fearlessly  as  he  would  have  de- 
nounced a  tin-horn  gambler,  regardless  of  the  peril  of 
punishment  for  contempt.  —  The  News,  Detroit,  Michi- 
gan. 

His  passing  removes  one  of  the  most  notable  figures 
in  American  journalism,  and  one  of  the  most  influential 
factors  in  American  social  and  civic  life.  —  The  Evening 
Arews,  Battle  Creek,  Michigan. 

The  work  Mr.  Nelson  did  for  the  development  of  the 
West  was  not  confined  to  his  chosen  city,  and  its  fruits 
will  be  shared  for  all  time  to  come  by  the  people  of  the 
whole  Trans-Mississippi  country.  —  The  Bee,  Omaha, 
Nebraska. 

In  his  death  the  newspaper  fraternity  lost  one  of  its 
ablest  men.  —  The  Daily  News,  Nebraska  City,  Ne- 
braska. 

He  did  his  duty  as  a  newspaper  editor,  as  a  citizen, 
as  a  promoter  of  the  common  good.  —  The  Daily  Press, 
Nebraska  City,  Neb?'aska. 

Let  us  hope  that  the  influence  of  William  R.  Nelson 
will  live.  —  The  State  Journal,  Lincoln,  A'ebraska. 

He  was  the  uncompromising  foe  of  all  forms  of  public 
graft.  —  The  Capital,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 


222  APPENDIX 

Mr.  Nelson  was  one  of  the  great  men  of  Missouri  at 
a  time  when  a  great  man  could  leave  his  mark.  The 
Star  may  go  up  or  down,  now  that  he  is  gone,  but 
Kansas  City  will  be  his  monument.  —  The  Register  and 
Leader,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

He  did  much  toward  the  beautification  of  Kansas 
City,  which  metropolis  realizes  that  its  great  debt  to  its 
foremost  editor  never  could  have  been  paid.  —  The 
Gazette,  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa. 

Kansas  City  is  his  monument,  for  to  the  late  editor  more 
than  any  other  influence  Kansas  City  owes  its  growth 
and  civic  beauty.  —  The  Times- Journal,  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

Colonel  Nelson  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  theory  that 
a  newspaper  should  stand  for  ideals.  —  The  Daily  Non- 
pareil, Council  Bluffs,  Iowa. 

He  was  always  fighting  for  the  masses.  —  The  Trib- 
une, Sioux  City,  Iowa. 

The  world  will  long  regret  his  departure,  while  cher- 
ishing his  memory  with  respect  and  esteem.  —  The 
Journal,  Clarinda,  Iowa. 

Kansas  City  grew  with  The  Star,  and  The  Star 
with  Kansas  City.  Mr.  Nelson  was  a  man  of  vision. 
Thirty-five  years  ago  he  foresaw  that  the  ragged  river 
town,  stuck  high  on  steep  hills,  was  destined  to  be  one 
of  the  metropolises  of  the  West.  Nor  was  his  a  faith 
without  good  works.  From  the  beginning,  through 
The   Star,  he  preached  the   gospel  of  civic   improve- 


APPENDIX 


223 


ment.  He  not  only  preached  improvements,  but  he  made 
them.  To  no  one  man,  perhaps,  is  Kansas  City  under 
deeper  obligation  for  what  has  been  accomplished  in  the 
way  of  making  it  a  City  Beautiful.  He  was  for  Kansas 
City  first,  last,  and  always.  It  was  Kansas  Citv  that  made 
him,  and  he  was  duly  grateful.  —  The  Journal,  Sioux 
City,  Ioxva. 

No  other  individual  figure  within  the  last  twenty  years 
has  stood  out  so  prominently  in  the  newspaper  world 
as  has  Colonel  William  R.  Nelson,  of  the  Kansas  City, 
Missouri,  Star  and  Times.  Few  if  any  men  have  left 
deeper  or  more  admirable  impressions  on  American 
journalism  as  a  whole  than  has  Colonel  Nelson.  —  The 
Herald,  Duluth,  Minnesota. 

And  all  that  is  left  for  the  commentator  to  say  is  that 
Colonel  Nelson  taught  us,  his  countrymen,  his  fellow- 
workers,  that  a  great  spirit  may  free  itself  from  the 
temptations  of  wealth  and  of  ambition  to  use  that  wealth 
for  a  high  moral  purpose,  to  forego  the  conventional 
ambition  of  titular  honor  for  the  more  godlike  aspiration 
of  fighting  the  battles  of  right  as  a  common  citizen.  — 
The  Dispatch,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota. 

Colonel  Nelson  embodied  the  spirit  of  the  West,  the 
spirit  of  achievement.  His  was  a  restless  energy  that 
always  sought  out  some  project  or  movement  or  reform 
upon  which  to  expend  itself.  —  The  Journal,  Minneapolis, 
Minnesota. 

The  newspaper  world  lost  one  of  its  greatest  and  best 
men  in  the  death  of  Editor  Nelson.  —  The  Dakota  Her- 
ald,  Yankton,  South  Dakota. 


IV 

THE    SOUTH 

The  Star  was  an  independent.  It  could  not  be  bought 
or  bullied.  It  took  orders  from  nowhere.  It  knew  only 
what  its  editor  conceived  the  public  welfare.  —  The 
Courier- Journal,  Louisville,  Kentucky. 

He  was  a  sane,  virile,  healthful  personality.  For  sham 
and  pretense  and  the  false  howlings  of  the  demagogue 
he  had  as  much  contempt  as  he  had  hatred  for  the  at- 
tempted oppression  of  corporate  wealth  or  political  power. 
He  was  a  big-hearted,  big-brained  man,  who  made  his 
influence  felt,  not  alone  in  his  own  community  and  the 
territory  his  paper  served,  but  throughout  the  country. 
—  The  Times-Dispatch,  Richmond,  Virginia. 

W.  R.  Nelson  was  one  of  the  builders.  His  city  ideal 
was  that  of  parks  and  homes.  His  was  the  idea  that 
Kansas  City  should  become  the  place  for  people  with 
state  and  nation-wide  interests  to  select  for  a  home.  Parks 
and  more  parks,  the  city  beautiful,  the  city  clean,  in  morals 
and  politics  and  health,  the  unselfish  city,  the  city  of  civic 
spirit,  of  vision,  of  full  confidence  in  its  future  great- 
ness, in  its  destiny  to  become  one  of  the  really  beautiful 
cities  of  the  world,  these  were  the  daily  ideals  of  the 
Kansas  City  Times  and  Star.  — The  Herald,  Lexington, 
Kentucky. 


226  APPENDIX 

William  R.  Nelson  endowed  Kansas  City  with  his 
genius  for  construction.  He  planned  for  the  city  things 
it  thought  impossible  of  construction,  and  then  ham- 
mered away  at  the  people  until  they  made  them  come 
true.  From  the  first  he  worked  on  the  idea,  "Make 
Kansas  City  a  good  place  to  live  in."  In  effect  he  said : 
' '  If  you  want  to  make  Kansas  City  a  great  city,  you 
must  make  it  pleasant  to  live  in,  otherwise  people  will 
sojourn,  not  abide." 

To  this  end  he  attacked  anything  and  everything  that 
tended  to  retard  the  city  ;  grasping  corporations,  crooked 
political  bosses,  greedy  public-utility  companies,  public 
apathy  to  radical  changes,  inartistic  and  crude  thoughts 
and  methods  of  expression  in  every  direction.  He  did  it 
with  a  vigor  that  made  him  bitter  and  implacable  enemies. 
But  it  also  gained  him  the  support  and  friendship  of  the 
great  public.  Also,  he  never  deviated  from  his  ambition 
to  publish  the  best  newspaper  possible,  and  the  ablest 
critics  and  judges  of  newspapers  in  the  country,  the 
great  reading  public,  told  him  that  he  was  doing  it.  — 
The  Journal,  Shreveport,  Louisiana. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  an  upstanding  figure  in  the  public 
life  of  America — independent,  fearless,  aggressive,  and 
progressive.  —  The  Item,  JVerv  Orleans,  Louisiana. 

William  R.  Nelson  of  Kansas  City  was  a  man  of 
great  force,  uncompromising  integrity,  and  an  energy 
that  knew  no  faltering  or  exhaustion.  He  was  of  the 
West,  as  though  to  the  manner  born.  He  partook  of  its 
spirit  and  enthusiastic  progressiveness,  and  he  soon  be- 


APPENDIX  227 

came  the  dominating  influence  in  his  city,  which  is  one 
of  the  liveliest  in  the  Middle  West.  —  The  News-Scimitar, 

Memphis,  Tennessee. 

He  made  The  Star  the  best  newspaper  in  the  West. 

—  The  Tennessean,  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

Colonel  Nelson  set  the  pace  for  independence  in  thought 
and  action  in  the  newspaper  realm.  He  was  the  foe 
to  all  that  was  evil ;  the  champion  of  all  that  was  good. 

—  The  Banner,  Nashville,   Tennessee. 

Nelson  edited  The  Star  after  such  a  virile  and  vigor- 
ous fashion  that  he  invariably  incurred  strong  opposition, 
but  his  honest  candor  commanded  respect. —  The  News, 
Elizabethtown,  Kentucky. 

His  paper,  The  Star,  was  a  live  voice  of  a  live  com- 
munity. —  The  Register,  Mobile,  Alabama. 

Mr.  Nelson,  editor  and  owner  of  The  Kansas  City 
Star,  who  died  recently,  was  said  to  have  had  mam- 
enemies.  People  who  do  things  usually  have  enemies.  — 
The  Age- Herald,  Birmingham,  Alabama. 

Kansas  City  mourns  the  death  of  its  most  useful  citi- 
zen, and  newspapers  throughout  the  United  States  honor 
the  memory  of  the  man  who  aimed  so  high  and  labored 
so  well  in  their  calling. —  The  Journal,  Atlanta,  Georgia. 

He  used  The  Star  to  fight  humanity's  battles. —  The 
Constitution,  Atlanta,  Georgia. 


228  APPENDIX 

His  paper  was  always  fighting  the  battles  of  the  people. 

—  The  Herald,  Augusta,  Georgia. 

He  did  not  spare  himself,  either  his  mind  or  his  pocket, 
in  making  Kansas  City  a  better  place  in  which  to  live. 

—  The  News,  Savannah,  Georgia. 

Commercial  clubs,  lawyers,  editors,  reporters,  gover- 
nors, authors,  clergymen  of  all  denominations,  judges, 
and  senators  have  written  and  spoken  tributes  to  his 
worth  and  high  character,  and  all  the  good  that  has  been 
said  of  him  has  met  responsive  approbation  in  the  hearts 
of  thousands  who  have  known  him  personally  and 
through  his  great  newspaper,  The  Kansas  City  Star.  — 
The  Nexus,  Lawton,  Oklahoma. 

The  tribute  of  faithful  service  is  the  dearest  one  that 
lies  upon  the  bier  of  W.  R.  Nelson,  put  there  by  men 
who  were  his  associates  in  fact  and  in  spirit.  —  The 
Times,  Oklahoma  City,  Oklahoma. 

He  made  a  wonderful  newspaper  and  has  left  the  im- 
press of  his  personality,  not  only  on  the  city  which  was 
his  home,  but  throughout  a  wide  area  of  tributary  terri- 
tory, if  not  on  the  Nation  as  a  whole.  —  The  World, 
Tulsa,  Oklahoma. 

The  most  valuable  heritage  that  Mr.  Nelson  has  left 
are  the  battles  he  has  won  for  intelligence  and  public  recti- 
tude.—  The  News- Capital,  McAlester,  Oklahoma. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  a  huge  force  for  good.  —  The  Daily 
Leader,  Guthrie,  Oklahoma. 


APPENDIX 


2Hj 


Mr.  Nelson  did  more  than  any  other  editor  to  purify 
the  newspapers  of  this  country.  —  The  Leader,  Frederick-, 
Oklahoma. 

The  name  of  Nelson  stands  out  as  that  of  the  great- 
est of  the  great  among  those  who  made  the  American 
press  a  powerful  influence  in  directing  the  currents  of 
social  and  political  progress. —  The  Express,  Cluckasha, 
Oklahoma. 

He  made  The  Star  one  of  the  real  newspapers  of  the 
continent. —  The  Times- Record,  Blackivell,  Oklahoma. 

He  was  great  as  a  publisher  and  editor,  but  greater  as 
a  man.  —  The  Examiner,  Bartlesville,  Oklahoma. 

He  was  the  most  effective  worker  in  the  battle  for  bet- 
ter things  that  has  ever  filled  the  editorial  chair  in  the 
Nation. —  The  Record,  Yale,  Oklahoma. 

He  opposed  the  corrupt  and  pointed  out  the  better 
way.  —  The  Adair  County  Republican,  Stihvell,  Oklahoma. 

Not  only  does  Kansas  City  mourn  his  loss,  but  the 
entire  country  is  in  sorrow  at  the  loss  of  so  good  a  man. 
—  The  Monitor,  Shaft uck,  Oklahoma. 

There  will  be  men  in  Kansas  City  who  will  secretly 
rejoice  that  a  great  obstacle  has  been  removed  from  their 
pathway  to  riches,  but  the  great  Middle  West,  whose 
development  and  prosperity  built  on  the  soil  is  typified 


230 


APPENDIX 


in  Nelson's  life  and  in  The  Star,  will  spend  this  day  con- 
sidering the  vacancy  in  the  seats  of  the  mighty  who  are 
also  good.  —  The  Herald,  Sapulpa,  Oklahoma. 

He  was  a  noted  editor  and  political  reformer.  —  The 
Free  Press,  Kingfisher,  Oklahoma. 

Mr.  Nelson  worked  to  further  that  righteousness  that 
exalted  a  nation.  —  The  Herald,  Guymon,  Oklahoma. 

He  made  The  Star  not  only  a  great  newspaper,  but 
a  powerful  one.  —  The  Moiiiing  News,  Dallas,  Texas. 

He  created  The  Kansas  City  Star  and  it  is  a  creation 
worth  while.  —  The  Star-  Telegram,  Foil:  Worth,  Texas. 

He  made  Kansas  City  a  good  place  to  live  in. —  The 
Journal,  Beaumont,  Texas. 

Colonel  Nelson  was  more  than  an  ordinary  publisher. 
The  Star  was  and  is  more  than  an  ordinary  newspaper 
—  it  is  a  teacher,  a  leader,  a  developer,  and  a  commu- 
nity guide  to  better  things  in  all  the  essentials  of  life. — 
The  Daily  Panhandle,  Amarillo,   Texas. 

There  is  a  line  in  Revelation  :  "Be  thou  faithful  unto 
death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life,"  that,  with- 
out fulsomeness  or  straining,  may  be  set  down  as  a 
tribute  to  the  passing  of  William  R.  Nelson,  editor  and 
publisher  of  The  Kansas  City  Star.  —  The  Express,  San 
Antonio,   Texas. 


APPENDIX 


231 


He  was  one  of  the  most  successful  and  powerful  edi- 
tors this  country  has  ever  known.  —  The  Daily  Newy 
Galveston,  Texas. 

His  dying  message  should  be  cherished  in  every  part 
of  the  American  Nation.  "  Honest  elections,"  he  said, 
"  are  fundamental  to  a  democratic  government."  —  The 
Tribune,  Galveston,  Texas. 

The  selection  of  the  name  of  The  Mena  Star  was  the 
result  of  association,  and  the  ideals  of  the  greater  paper 
have  served  as  a  guiding  light  to  the  smaller.  We  know 
of  no  higher  standard.  —  The  Star,  Mena,  Arkansas. 

Mr.  Nelson  believed  that  a  newspaper  should  be  held 
by  an  individual  as  trustee  for  the  public.  —  The  Gazette, 
Little  Rock,  Arkansas. 

He  was  a  great  man,  a  great  editor,  a  gentleman,  and 
a  scholar.  He  made  Kansas  City  as  much  as  Kansas 
City  made  him.  —  The  Daily  Register,  Siloam  Springs, 
Arkansas. 


THE    MOUNTAINS    AND    THE    PACIFIC    COAST 

There  died,  in  the  early  hours  of  Tuesday  morning, 
April  13,  at  his  home  in  Kansas  City,  William  R.  Nel- 
son, the  founder  and  editor  of  The  Kansas  City  Star  and 
one  of  the  really  great  men  of  the  Nation.  In  the  same 
hour  there  passed  into  the  vast  silence  in  his  person  one 
of  the  kindliest  and  most  lovable  of  men.  His  mind  was 
profound,  practical,  and  intensely  alert.  His  judgment 
was  keen,  sagacious,  and  exact.  His  heart  was  a  foun- 
tain of  generosity.  No  worthy  appeal  ever  was  made  to 
him  in  vain.  Not  often  did  what  was  worthy  need  wait 
upon  appeal. 

Seated  in  a  place  of  power  that  had  been  fashioned  by 
his  own  endeavor,  he  used  that  power  nobly.  His  was 
the  faculty  of  vision  —  the  gift  of  seeing  in  the  time  that 
is  the  things  that  should  be,  and  in  fullest  measure  his 
was  the  courage  to  attempt  the  transformation  of  the 
vision  into  the  real  and  tangible.  Kansas  City  owes  much 
of  what  it  is  to  the  constructive  labors  of  its  builder,  who 
there  lies  dead.  His  creative  force  wras  the  city's  greatest 
asset.  When  reaction  defeated  progress,  he  remained 
undaunted.  Nothing  could  stifle  his  faith  in  the  town  or 
its  people  —  nothing  could  shake  his  conviction  that  in 
the  long  run  right  must  triumph  over  wrong  because  it 
was  right,  as  good  ultimately  must  conquer  evil  because 
of  its  inherent  quality. 


234 


APPENDIX 


As  with  the  city,  so  with  the  State  and  the  Nation. 
Not  for  him  the  bondage  of  partisanship.  He  kept  him- 
self as  free  as  freedom,  rendering  joyous  service  under 
whatever  flag  at  the  time  offered  the  largest  hope  for  the 
people's  good.  For  W.  R.  Nelson,  big-brained,  big- 
hearted  man  that  he  was,  never  seeking  personal  advan- 
tage, fought  with  his  whole  might  to  help  democracy 
assert  its  powers  and  defend  its  rights.  In  that  contest, 
continuing  through  all  his  journalistic  years,  he  opposed 
the  efforts  of  plutocracy  to  control  government.  He  fought 
all  manner  of  powerful  interests  seeking  special  privileges 
at  the  public  cost.  They  looked  alike  to  him  —  he  fought 
them  all. 

So,  under  his  immediate  and  personal  direction,  The 
Kansas  City  Star  became  one  of  the  foremost  newspapers 
of  the  Republic.  It  was  managed  and  edited,  as  he  was 
fond  of  emphasizing  on  occasion,  in  the  interest  and  for 
the  benefit  of  the  men  and  women  who  subscribed  ten 
cents  a  week  toward  its  support,  but  it  was  no  less,  and 
no  less  will  it  remain,  the  champion  of  all  that  makes  for 
the  betterment  of  conditions  throughout  the  whole  Nation 
—  the  strongest  single  militant  force  of  which  the  cause 
of  social  and  industrial  justice  can  boast.  Living,  Nelson 
was  the  life  of  the  paper;  dead,  he  becomes  its  ruling 
spirit.  The  Kansas  City  Star,  the  work  of  his  brain  and 
heart,  is  his  enduring  monument. 

It  is  not  easy  in  this  hour  of  Nelson's  going  adequately 
to  express  the  sense  of  loss,  deep  and  abiding,  his  death 
creates.  No  man  ever  was  in  intimate  relation  with  him 
who  did  not  come  to  feel  great  personal  affection  for  him, 
so  that,  whatever  the  length  of  separation  that  came  to 


APPENDIX  235 

break  association,  the  world  seemed  yet  a  better  place  to 
live  in  because  he  was  in  it. 

Good-night,  old  friend,  now  that  darkness  has  fallen 
and  you  sleep  —  good-night  till  comes  the  morrow.  — 
Albert  Miller,  in  the  Los  Angeles  Express. 

The  career  of  such  a  man  is  invaluable  in  the  impress 
it  leaves  upon  his  age.  —  The  Oregon  Journal,  Portland, 
Oregon. 

What  The  Star  was,  he  made  it ;  and  what  Kansas 
City  is  may  be  credited  in  considerable  measure  to  him. 
—  The  Morning  Oregonian,  Portland,  Oregon. 

In  many  hard  struggles,  both  local  and  national,  The 
Bulletin  has  been  strengthened  and  encouraged  by  the 
unhesitating  support  of  William  R.  Nelson.  —  The  Bul- 
letin, San  Francisco. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  a  big  man  and  one  who  won  out  by 
superior  mentality  coupled  with  tireless  energy.  —  The 
Chronicle,  San  Francisco. 

He  was  an  honest,  kindly,  generous,  lovable  man. 
Those  who  worked  under  him  fairly  worshipped  him. 
All  Kansas  City  loved  him,  for  he  had  done  much 
through  The  Star  and  through  himself  to  make  life  bet- 
ter worth  the  living  in  that  city  and  in  its  vicinity.  — 
7726"  Bee,  Sacramento,  California. 

Even  at  this  distance  the  force  and  influence  of 
William  R.  Nelson  have  made  themselves  felt.  —  The 
Herald,  Fresno,  California. 


236  APPENDIX 

Let  all  the  Nation  pray  that  God  may  send  us  more 
men  like  William  R.  Nelson. —  The  Messenger,  Mon- 
rovia, California. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  one  of  the  best  known  editors  in  the 
world,  and  the  Kansas  City  Star  was  recognized  as  one 
of  the  leading  newspapers.  —  The  Labor  Leader,  San 
Diego,  California. 

With  the  passing  of  William  Rockhill  Nelson  from 
the  theater  of  action  at  Kansas  City  there  went  out  from 
life  one  of  the  strongest  personalities  that  has  dominated 
human  events  in  the  last  half-century.  —  The  State 
Leader,  Cheyenne,  Wyoming. 

Missouri  has  never  harbored  a  greater  nor  a  truer 
citizen,  and  as  long  as  his  great  newspaper  shall  continue 
in  his  footsteps  his  name  will  be  a  household  word 
wherever  the  English  tongue  is  spoken.  —  The  Mon- 
tana Progressive,  Helena,  Montana. 

He  operated  his  papers  for  the  public  and  in  the 
interest  of  the  community's  welfare.  —  The  Spokesman- 
Review,  Spokane,  Washington. 

Throughout  the  Mississippi  Valley  William  R.  Nel- 
son's genius  left  a  mighty  impress.  —  The  Daily  Her- 
ald, Everett,  Washington. 

All  in  all,  he  was,  in  the  opinion  of  this  paper,  the 
greatest  man  of  his  profession  this  country  has  yet  pro- 
duced. —  The  Daily  Republic,  North  Yakima,  Wash- 
ington . 


APPENDIX  237 

He  was  sincere  and  honest  —  and  greater  praise  few 
men  deserve.  —  The  Tonopah  Miner,  Tonopah,  Nevada. 

His  death  marks  the  passing  of  a  great  soul.  —  The 
Examiner,  Ogden,  Utah. 

Editor  Nelson's  paper  prospered  because  the  masses 
believed  in  its  sincerity.  —  Salt  Lake  Telegram,  Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah. 

As  an  influence  for  better  citizenship  and  better  journal- 
ism he  stood  foremost  in  the  Middle  West.  His  exam- 
ple has  meant  much,  and  will  continue  to  mean  much, 
to  the  Nation.  —  The  Gazette,  Colorado  Springs,  Colorado. 

Mr.  Nelson  constantly  appealed  to  what  was  best  in 
men  and  women. —  The  Arizona  Republican,  Phoenix, 
Arizona. 

William  R.  Nelson  was  the  most  noted  editor  of  all 
the  West  and  one  of  the  positive  personal  forces  of  the 
United  States.  —  The  Morning  Journal,  Albuquerque, 
New  Mexico. 


VI 

KANSAS 

The  life  of  the  man,  who  for  a  third  of  a  century  lias 
been  the  guiding  force  behind  that  great  newspaper,  will 
have  its  full  and  undiminished  expression  on  this  earth 
long  after  his  mere  name  is  remembered  only  by  those 
who  loved  him.  Thousands  who  never  knew  his  name 
will  be  moved  by  the  force  of  his  purpose.  Events  still 
gestating  in  the  future  will  be  shaped  by  the  life  that  has 
gone  out.  For  he  lived  largely.  He  was  of  giant  size. 
He  was  one  of  the  few  men  of  genuine  power  that  the 
Middle  West  has  produced.  Mr.  Nelson  was  of  the  mili- 
tant type,  "always  a  fighter,"  yet  never  did  his  passions 
guide  him.  He  had  a  serene  and  dependable  sense  of 
justice,  and  this  sense  moved  him  in  all  major  affairs  of 
his  life.  When  he  took  a  position,  it  was  tenable,  not 
only  the  day  he  took  it,  but  ever  after.  He  saw  far  be- 
cause he  saw  justly.  Yesterday's  fights  never  rose  to  de- 
feat to-day's,  because  yesterday's  fight  was  righteous. 
That  is  genius. 

But  he  had  more  than  genius  —  he  had  a  sweet  and 
beautiful  soul,  filled  with  a  love  for  men,  a  passion  for 
the  welfare  of  humanity.  That  was  the  motive  of  his 
life.  Such  a  life,  when  it  is  expressed  through  a  strong 
medium,  is  vastly  immortal.  It  cannot  die,  no  matter 
what  happens  to  the  body  or  the  soul  after  death.   And 


240 


APPENDIX 


the  expression  of  Mr.  Nelson's  soul  took  the  form  most 
useful  for  his  time. 

In  Michael  Angelo's  day  he  would  have  been  a  great 
artist  in  stone  or  oils.  In  the  time  of  wars  he  would  have 
been  a  soldier.  In  Elizabeth's  England  he  would  been  a 
poet.  In  Rome  he  would  have  been  a  tribune.  In  Greece 
he  would  have  stood  with  the  philosophers.  But  to-day 
his  life  dramatized  itself  in  a  newspaper.  Paper  soon 
crumbles.  The  Kansas  City  Star  was  printed  for  the 
hour  it  left  the  press.  Its  future  and  its  fate  are  of  no 
great  consequence.  But  it  is  of  first  importance  to  this 
generation  and  to  the  next  in  this  world  that  there  lived 
and  wrought  here,  with  tools  of  ink  and  paper,  a  fine, 
free  soul  with  a  trained  mind,  who  fashioned  out  of  the 
world  about  him  every  day  he  lived  the  reality  of  a  great 
dream  of  democracy. — William  Allen  White,  in  The 
Gazette,  Emporia,  Kansas. 

There  is  a  territory  comprising  all  of  some  and  the 
greater  part  of  several  other  States  that  come  under  the 
trade  and  civic  influence  of  Kansas  City  for  which  no 
man  has  ever  done  as  much  as  Colonel  W.  R.  Nelson, 
publisher  of  the  Kansas  City  Star,  who  died  this  morning. 
In  all  this  territory  the  moral  standards  have  been  raised, 
the  civic  spirit  has  been  promoted,  and  business  prosper- 
ity has  in  a  measure  come  through  the  activities  of  this 
one  man.  No  other  man  could  have  done  the  work.  He 
was  one  of  the  conspicuous  characters  whom  Providence 
occasionally  raises  up  in  a  country  or  in  a  community 
and  gives  a  vision  for  a  certain  needful  or  helpful  service 
and  endows  with  the  talents  and  the  force  to  execute  it. 


APPENDIX  241 

The  seed  of  courage  that  this  man  has  sown,  the  high 
purposes  which  he  has  inspired,  the  force  he  has  im- 
parted to  others,  will  never  die.  Though  his  earthly 
tabernacle  be  untenanted,  Colonel  Nelson  lives  in  some 
measure  incarnate  in  the  lives  of  others  who  have  come 
under  the  touch  of  his  masterful  and  purposeful  life. 
What  he  has  left  to  the  young  men  in  the  profession  is 
greater  than  riches  of  gold ;  the  legacy  he  has  left  to 
hundreds  of  communities  is  more  than  worldly  prosperity. 
His  lesson  is  written  not  with  ink,  not  on  tables  of  stone, 
but  in  fleshy  tables  of  the  hearts  of  thousands  whom  his 
life  impressed.  —  The  Tribune,  Fort  Scott,  Kansas. 

William  Rockhill  Nelson  is  a  force  in  the  life  of  the 
Southwest.  He  was  a  master-builder,  and  his  work  re- 
mains firm,  trustworthy,  stone  upon  stone  in  perfect 
form.  He  lifted  the  life  around  him,  the  life  of  communi- 
ties and  States,  and  kept  it  to  the  level  of  his  superb 
manhood.  No  worthier  praise  can  be  written  of  the  citi- 
zen-builder whose  ongoing  we  are  called  to  note,  not  with 
grief  and  cypress  wreaths,  but  with  love,  admiration, 
and  gratitude ;  not  with  sorrow,  but  with  fair  memories, 
and  the  up-springing  Hope  that  all  will  be  well  with  his 
new  work.  God-speed,  old  friend.  —  The  Eagle,  JJlchita, 
Kansas. 

Threats  by  opponents  or  appeals  to  self-interest  never 
swerved  him  from  what  he  thought  was  right.  He  was 
never  asking  what  would  be  policy  or  what  would  be 
the  best  way  out.  All  he  wanted  to  know  was  what  was 
right,  and  when  he  made  up  his  mind  on  that  point  no 


242  APPENDIX 

blandishments  of  friends  or  battering  by  foe  ever  did 
more  than  make  him  more  determined  than  before  to 
beat  down  the  wrong  and  build  up  the  right.  —  The 
News,  Hutchinson,  Kansas. 

His  death  seems  personal  to  those  of  us  who  have 
followed  him  daily  for  twenty-five  years  and  more,  and 
especially  so  to  me  as  an  editor,  for  I  count  his  publica- 
tion the  greatest  newspaper  in  the  world  and  his  influ- 
ence for  human  good  in  recent  years  equal  to,  if  not 
greater,  than  that  of  any  other  American.  His  work  has 
been  an  inspiration  to  every  forward-looking  editor 
within  the  territory  he  served.  It  has  made  grafting 
more  difficult  in  every  city,  county,  and  state  govern- 
ment within  hundreds  of  miles.  It  has  made  easier  the 
work  of  every  preacher,  teacher,  and  editor  within  the 
reach  of  his  mighty  influence.  It  has  helped  to  mould 
and  ennoble  the  characters  of  thousands.  —  The  News, 
Wellington,  Kansas. 

The  writer  has  lived  twenty-seven  years  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Kansas  City  Star.  Fifteen  of  these  years 
he  has  been  a  constant  reader  of  its  columns.  He  has 
walked  the  fields,  he  has  roamed  through  college  halls, 
he  has  camped  in  musty  churches,  and  all  of  these  have 
stamped  themselves  upon  his  life.  But  as  he  sums  up 
the  contributing  influences  toward  his  present  self  to- 
day, excepting  the  home  alone,  he  feels  the  Kansas  City 
Star  has  been  the  dominating  influence  in  his  life.  The 
Great  Chief,  whose  philosophy  we  have  tried  to  follow, 
whose  opinion  of  right  and  justice  as  far  as  we  are  able 


APPENDIX  243 

to  comprehend  it  has  become  our  own,  whose  valiant 
fight  for  the  common  people  and  the  general  good  has 
set  up  for  us  a  new  hero,  is  gone.  With  thousands  of 
the  men  and  women  in  the  great  Middle  West  who 
have  had  a  personal  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Nelson,  yet 
have  never  seen  him,  we  feel  a  personal  loss.  —  The 
Republican,  Anthony,  Kansas. 

This  layman  wants  to  lay  his  flower  on  the  bier  of 
William  R.  Nelson.  The  person  who  has  been  in  the 
newspaper  business  in  this  section  for  the  last  twenty 
years  knows  that  Mr.  Nelson  and  his  Kansas  Citv  Star 
have  done  more  to  elevate  the  profession  and  put  it  on  a 
high  plane  than  any  other  factor.  The  Star  taught  the 
small  fellows  to  play  the  game  square  from  a  business 
standpoint.  It  taught  them  to  hew  to  the  line  and  ex- 
press their  honest  convictions.  It  taught  them  to  print 
the  news  and  tell  the  truth  and  not  depend  on  public 
pap  for  a  living.  That  is  why  there  are  more  good 
country  newspapers  in  the  Kansas  City  territory  than  in 
any  other  territory  of  like  area  in  the  world.  —  The 
Osborne  Farmer,  Osborne,  Kansas. 

Always  a  builder,  he  wrought  much  in  the  lives  and 
hearts  of  the  thousands  who  have  followed  his  paper  for 
thirty  years. —  The  Daily  Reporter,  Independence,  Kansas. 

He  was  the  biggest  single  asset  in  the  West  for  the 
advancement  of  good  government  and  the  betterment 
of  conditions  of  the  under  dog.  —  The  Star,  Independ- 
ence,  Kansas. 


244  APPENDIX 

All  worthy  public  enterprises  and  all  causes  based  on 
human  need  have  lost  a  powerful  friend  and  champion 
in  the  death  of  W.  R.  Nelson. —  The  Republican , 
Jewell  City,  Kansas. 

The  whole  country  mourns  the  loss  of  one  of  our 
great  and  good  men.  —  The  Post,  Carbondale,  Kansas. 

There  was  no  greater  man  in  the  Central  West  than 
Colonel  Nelson.  —  The  Star,  Conway  Springs,  Kansas. 

He  was  intolerant  of  all  evil  and  vice,  and  his  life- 
work  —  The  Star  —  has  been  the  means  of  building  up 
a  finer  citizenship  in  these  Western  States.  —  The 
Mercury,  Manhattan,  Kansas. 

William  R.  Nelson  was  a  warrior,  fighting  for  the 
best  interests  of  the  people.  —  The  Democrat,  Manhattan, 
Kansas. 

He  won  the  enmity  of  every  grafter  and  boodler  in 
Kansas  City  and  the  encomiums  of  the  very  best  people 
in  that  community.  —  The  Journal,  Dodge  City,  Kansas. 

Mr.  Nelson  has  unquestionably  been  one  of  the  big 
instruments  to  assist  in  the  upbuilding  of  the  West  in 
general  and  Kansas  in  particular.  —  The  Reporter,  Le 
Roy,  Kansas. 

The  people  mourn  a  great  man  and  a  firm  friend 
gone.  —  The  Journal,   Yates  Center,  Kansas. 


APPENDIX 


245 


William  R.  Nelson  was  always  for  upbuilding  and 
for  the  exposure  of  all  fraud  and  crooked  work.  —  The 

Nexus-  Courant,  Strong  City,  Kansas. 

William  R.  Nelson  needs  no  shaft  of  granite  or  marble 
to  perpetuate  his  memory.  The  present  and  future  gen- 
erations of  Kansas  will  keep  his  memory  green  as  they 
enjoy  the  beautiful  parks  and  boulevards  that  are  really 
the  creations  of  his  far-seeing  mind.  —  The  Mirror, 
Olathe,  Kansas. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  first,  last,  and  all  the  time  a  fighting 
man,  and  it  is  accorded  him  as  having  been  uniformly 
on  the  side  of  right  and  justice.  —  The  Independent, 
Olathe,  Kansas. 

The  voluntary  expressions  of  love  and  respect  that 
have  come  from  every  source  since  his  death  show  con- 
clusively where  he  stood  with  the  great  mass  of  people. 
They  believed  in  him  and  they  believed  in  his  work. 
And  the  seed  that  he  has  sown  will  flower  after  him.  — 
The  Register,  Olathe,  Kansas. 

William  R.  Nelson  is  dead,  but  what  he  stood  for 
and  did  will  live  for  another  generation.  In  his  death 
every  newspaper  man  in  Kansas  has  lost  a  guiding 
spirit,  and  whether  we  knew  him  or  not,  a  real  friend. 
—  The  Free  Press,  Osage  City,  Kansas. 

Colonel  Nelson  was  a  mountain  of  energy,  a  coura- 
geous fighter  for  the  principles  of  right,  conscientious 


246  APPENDIX 

to  a  fault,  immeasurably  successful,   charitable  to  the 
utmost.  —  The  Free  Press,  Independence,  Kansas. 

Not  only  Kansas  City  mourns  the  passing  of  Mr.  Nel- 
son, for  who  has  not  admired  the  marvelous  man  and  his 
great  work  ?  —  The  Democrat- Enterprise,  Hanover,  Kansas. 

His  heart  was  always  right.  His  sympathy  was  for- 
ever with  the  under  dog.  Fear  was  unknown  to  him. 
The  word  defeat  was  not  found  in  his  lexicon.  —  The 
Chieftain,  Bonner  Springs,  Kansas. 

He  grew  mentally  and  as  an  executive  all  his  life,  both 
keeping  pace  with  the  growth  of  Kansas  City  and  the 
Kansas  City  radius.  —  The  Journal- World,  Lawrence, 
Kansas. 

He  fought  earnestly  and  consistently  for  civic  right- 
eousness, and  defeat  or  victory  never  swerved  him  from 
his  course.  His  was  the  mind  of  a  master,  and  his  mem- 
ory will  live  long  for  that  which  he  accomplished.  — 
The  Republican,  Paola,  Kansas. 

He  did  more,  possibly,  than  any  other  man  in  build- 
ing up  the  moral  and  commercial  life  of  Kansas  City  and 
the  great  Middle  West,  and  in  his  death  a  great  char- 
acter is  removed  from  the  public  life  of  this  part  of  the 
United  States.  —  The  Journal,  Edgerton,  Kansas. 

He  was  a  great  and  wonderful  man.  There  was  a 
daily  beauty  about  his  life  that  won  every  heart  who 
came  in  contact  with  him.  In  temperament  he  was  mild, 


APPENDIX  247 

conciliatory  and  candid,  and  yet  remarkable  for  an  un- 
compromising firmness.  —  The  New  Era,  Spring  Hilly 
Kansas. 

Every  man  who  ever  worked  for  Colonel  Nelson  was 
his  loyal  admirer.  —  The  Enterprise,  Alma,  Kansas. 

During  his  lifetime  Kansas  City  grew  from  a  village 
to  a  city,  but  Mr.  Nelson  never  let  it  outgrow  The  Star. 

—  The  Beacon,  Wichita,  Kansas. 

He  was  a  great  factor  in  the  development  of  Kansas 
City,  and  our  Kansas.  —  The  Bulletin,  Florence,  Kansas. 

He  will  be  lamented  by  all  who  gloried  in  his  daunt- 
less courage  for  the  elimination  of  fraud  and  graft  in  all 
public  and  governmental  affairs.  — The  Journal,  Scandia, 
Kansas. 

He  was  a  power  in  the  building  of  Kansas  City  from 
a  little  place  to  one  of  the  most  enterprising  cities  in  the 
world.  —  The  News,  Baxter  Springs,  Kansas. 

He  was  a  great  man  who  advocated  what  was  right. 

—  The  Ledger,  Cawker  City,  Kansas. 

He  had  indomitable  courage.  — The  Advance,  Chetopa, 
Kansas. 

He  fought  special  privilege  and  sided  with  the  average 
man  against  the  rich  crook.  — The  Jacksonian,  Cimarron, 
Kansas. 


248  APPENDIX 

The  entire  country  feels  the  loss  of  this  man.  —  The 
Courant,  Coats,  Kansas. 

The  newspaper  world  has  lost  its  foremost  exponent 
of  ideal  journalism.  —  The  Kansan,  Concordia,  Kansas. 

There  are  few  men  in  private  life  whose  death  would 
be  felt  as  that  of  Colonel  Nelson.  —  The  Reflector,  Elk 
Falls,  Kansas. 

Under  the  guiding  genius  of  Mr.  Nelson  The  Star 
has  been  a  power  for  good. — The  Herald,  Eureka, 
Kansas. 

He  was  an  enemy  to  graft  and  special  privilege.  — 
The  Democratic  Messenger,  Eureka,  Kansas. 

Above  all  he  believed  in  the  principle  that  the  populace 
was  the  biggest  thing  in  every  community  and  that  every- 
thing legally  created  by  it  should  be  its  servant.  His 
fights  for  decent  service  from  the  public  utilities  of  Kan- 
sas City  were  so  persistent  and  masterful  that  even  the 
defeats  that  frequently  followed  were  more  honorable  to 
The  Star  than  they  were  creditable  to  the  victors.  —  The 
Republican,  Eldorado,  Kansas. 

He  advocated  improvements  and  he  fought  for  im- 
provements and  made  improvements.  —  The  Times, 
Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

He  was  Kansas  City's  greatest  asset,  and  no  matter 
how  much  people  differed  with  him  when  alive,  they  ad- 
mit it  now.  —  The  Labor  Chronicle,  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 


APPENDIX 


249 


He  was  a  friend  of  the  common  people  and  a  sincere 
advocate  of  democracy. — The  Globe,  Atchison,  Kansas. 

He  has  been  one  of  the  most  forceful  men  in  American 
life  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century.  —  The  Tribune, 
Chanute,  Kansas. 

He  was  one  of  the  biggest  men  of  the  country.  — The 
Traveler,  Arkansas  City,  Kansas. 

The  Star  has  been  a  great  factor  in  the  world's  ad- 
vancement, and  no  greater  tribute  could  ever  be  paid  to 
any  man  than  to  say  that  he  has  helped  to  point  the  way 
to  higher  and  better  things  in  business,  in  morals  and  in 
politics.  —  The  Journal,  Tf^ellmgton,  Kansas. 

He  was  good  to  the  poor,  and  what  more  could  any 
soul  ask  to  earn  entrance  to  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven?  — 
The  Gazette,  Hutchinson,  Kansas. 

He  supported  clean  morals,  private  and  public.  — The 
Wholesaler,  Hutchinson,  Kansas. 

The  greatest  force  for  good  in  this  section  of  the  coun- 
try during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  has  been  The 
Kansas  City  Star.  —  The  Gazette,  Beloit,  Kansas. 

For  thirty-five  years  the  sturdy  figure  of  Mr.  Nelson 
has  been  prominent  in  the  forefront  of  every  battle  waged 
against  the  forces  of  evil. — The  University  Daily  Kan- 
san,  Lawrence,  Kansas. 


250 


APPENDIX 


He  did  more  to  put  Kansas  City  on  the  map  than  any 
other  person  or  agency  in  that  city.  —  The  Review, Gar- 
nett,  Kansas. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  a  man  with  a  vision  —  the  only  kind 
of  a  man  who  gets  far  in  this  world.  That  vision  in- 
cluded the  artistic  in  city  building,  the  direct  and  simple 
in  government,  the  recognition  of  the  larger  humanities 
in  social  relations,  and  because  he  preached  his  creed,  in 
season  and  out  of  season ,  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon 
precept,  he  made  men  and  women  all  over  the  West 
think  seriously  on  the  good  things  of  this  life.  —  The 
Reflector,  Abilene,  Kansas. 

Colonel  Nelson's  policies  were  broad  ones  thatbuilded 
for  better  citizenship. — The  Post,  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 

He  was  a  strong  character  and  always  fought  for  the 
public  interest  and  opposed  special  privilege.  —  The 
Democrat,  Hiawatha,  Kansas. 

He  always  waged  war  for  the  betterment  of  the  Middle 
West.  —  The  World,  Hiawatha,  Kansas. 

His  newspapers  stand  as  his  monument  and  bear  the 
strongest  testimony  procurable  to  the  ability,  progressive- 
ness  and  power  of  the  man.  —  The  Times,  Clay  Center, 
Kansas. 

It  is  a  marvelous  achievement  that  he  left  behind  in 
his  paper. — The  Gazette,  Peabody,  Kansas. 


APPENDIX 


2C1 


One  of  Mr.  Nelson's  opinions  was  that  the  farmer's 
wife  was  overworked  and  needed  things  better.  Helping 
her  was  one  of  the  permanent  assignments  on  The 
Weekly  Star. — The  Herald,  Sabetha,  Kansas. 

A  fair  fighter  for  humanity  is  gone. —  The  Advocate, 
Columbus,  Kansas. 

Every  true-hearted  man  and  woman  must  feel  sorrow 
at  the  loss  of  this  editor  who  stood  firm  as  a  rock  for 
all  those  principles  which  represent  the  highest  type  of 
citizenship. —  The  Norton  County  News,  Kansas. 

We  recognized  in  Mr.  Nelson  a  major-general  as  con- 
cerning the  newspaper  fraternity.  —  The  Panta graph, 
Sedgxvick,  Ka?isas. 

Men  and  women  will  pause  during  the  solemn  fu- 
neral service  and  fervently  thank  God  for  this  good  man's 
life. —  The  Free  Press,  Colony,  Kafisas. 

Mr.  Nelson  and  The  Star  fought  for  what  he  thought 
was  right,  and  fought  vigorously  and  without  ceasing. 
—  The  Daily  Journal,  Coffeyville,  Kansas. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  a  great  man ;  he  has  exercised  a  tre- 
mendous influence  in  that  part  of  the  United  States  west 
of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  indeed  upon  the  whole 
Nation.  —  The  Journal,  Salina,  Kansas. 

He  was  distinctively  a  builder,  and  an  aggressive 
fighter  for  civic  betterment.  —  The  Times,  Wamego, 
Kansas. 


252  APPENDIX 

To  have  created  such  a  newspaper  as  The  Star  would 
have  been  the  worthy  lifework  of  any  man.  It  was  the 
lifework  of  the  great  journalist  and  citizen  who  has  passed 
away.  He  has  built  up  an  agency  for  constructive  work 
here  in  the  Southwest  that  will  live  long  after  him  and 
continue  his  own  effectual  labors.  —  The  Capital,  Topeka, 
Kansas. 

Colonel  Nelson  was  not  only  a  great  newspaper  man, 
he  was  also  a  great  citizen.  And  Kansas  City  has  lost  a 
soldier  from  her  ranks  whose  place  probably  can  never  be 
filled.  —  The  State  Journal,  Topeka,  Kansas. 

He  always  fought  that  which  was  base  and  low.  — 

The  Republic,  Kansas  City,  Kansas. 

Kansas  City's  present  greatness  is  largely  due  to  The 
Star,  and  W.  R.  Nelson  was  The  Star. —  The  Stock 
Yards  Nugget,  Kansas  City,  Kansas. 

He  conducted  the  Star  in  the  interests  of  the  people. 
—  The  Sun,  Kansas  City,  Kansas. 

We  must  praise  the  lifework  of  this  man,  how  each 
day  he  instilled  in  the  minds  of  the  young  higher  ideals 
of  manhood  and  womanhood,  sobriety,  moral  and  right- 
eous business  and  political  principles. —  The  Sun,  JVeo- 
desha,  Kansas. 

He  was  clean-cut,  with  a  fixed  principle,  standing  for 
what  was  best  of  humanity.  —  The  Journal,  Smith 
Center,  Kansas. 


APPENDIX 


253 


He  exerted  a  mighty  influence  for  the  highest  ideals. 

—  The  Record,  Stockton,  Kansas. 

A  prominent  Chicago  editor  once  said  to  us,  The  Kan- 
sas City  Star  is  esteemed  by  newspaper  men  generally  as 
one  of  the  best  two  or  three  newspapers  in  the  country. 

—  The  Recorder,  Holton,  Kansas. 

Mr.  Nelson  and  his  newspaper  have  been  the  biggest 
power  in  the  Missouri  Valley,  and  he  has  ever  tried  to 
use  his  enormous  influence  to  benefit  his  town  and  his 
country.  —  The  Headlight-Commercial,  Horton,  Kansas. 

A  great  man  was  W.  R.  Nelson,  great  in  his  work, 
great  in  his  achievements,  great  in  his  friends — and 
great  in  his  enemies.  He  labored  long  and  well.  —  The 
Courant,  Howard,  Kansas. 

The  Star  always  stood  for  clean  politics,  progress 
along  lasting  lines,  and  the  highest  kind  of  morals.  — 
The  Kansan,  Kirwin,  Kansas. 

What  a  fine,  clean  type  of  manhood  he  has  been  !  — 
The  Republican,  Toronto,  Kansas. 

The  personality  of  this  great  editor  was  felt  in  every 
movement  for  the  greatest  good  throughout  the  Middle 
West.  —  The  Graphic,  Osawatomie,  Kansas. 

His  was  a  busy,  useful  life;  a  life  that  has  touched, 
through  his  paper,  millions  of  other  lives,  and  he  tried 


254 


APPENDIX 


to  make  that  touch,  that  influence,  a  righteous  force,  a 
real  help,  an  elevating  stimulus. —  The  Kansan,  Pitts- 
burg, Kansas. 

His  worth  was  attested  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest. 
—  The  Tribune,  Marquette,  Kansas. 

His  courage  was  marvelous,  his  sympathy  and  char- 
ity sublime,  his  intellect  strong  and  his  Christianity  practi- 
cal and  helpful. —  The  Index,  Medicine  Lodge,  Kansas. 

The  great  West  and  Southwest  are  sorry  to  hear  of 
the  passing  of  this  man.  —  The  Western  Advocate,  Man- 
kato,  Kansas. 

His  hopes  and  his  ideals  are  written  into  scores  of 
progressive  laws  to-day  in  the  States  where  William  R. 
Nelson  wielded  his  tremendous  influence  for  the  common 
good.  —  The  Tiller  and  Toiler,  Lamed,  Kansas. 


VII 

MISSOURI 

Mr.  Nelson  informed,  stimulated,  and  crystallized  pub- 
lic opinion  in  support  of  progress  and  improvement. 
Kansas  City  is  adorned  with  monuments  of  his  public 
service.  —  The  Post-Dispatch,  St.  Louis. 

It  is  hard  to  say  which  went  deepest  with  Colonel 
Nelson  —  devotion  to  Kansas  City  or  devotion  to  The 
Star.  He  lived  in  his  city  and  his  paper.  Both  are  in  a 
peculiar  sense  his  monuments.  The  newspaper  profes- 
sion has  lost  a  creative  personality  —  one  of  the  greatest 
editors  of  the  age.  The  foremost  citizen  of  no  mean 
city  has  finished  his  service.  A  Missourian  of  unique 
brain,  mind,  and  will  has  gone  to  his  rest.  —  The  Re- 
public, St.  Louis. 

The  death  of  William  Rockhill  Nelson  removes  one 
of  the  most  rugged  newspaper  men  of  America.  With- 
out question  he  was  Kansas  City's  most  distinguished 
citizen.  —  The  Globe- Democrat,  St.  Louis. 

Mr.  Nelson  did  more  to  build  up  his  town  than  all 
the  other  influences  for  good  combined.  He  was  the 
power  behind.  His  thought  initiated  the  movement  for 
a  better  city.  —  The  Times,  St.  Louis. 


256  APPENDIX 

He  has  been  a  power  in  Kansas  City,  the  largest 
single  factor  in  its  growth.  He  made  the  city  do  things, 
and  he  made  people  stop  doing  things  that  were  harm- 
ful. —  The  Star,  St.  Louis. 

Mr.  Nelson's  life  was  a  triumph  of  clean  journalism. 
Kansas  City,  Missouri,  Kansas,  the  Southwest,  and  the 
Nation  are  the  poorer  by  his  loss,  but  he  left  all  better 
than  he  found  them,  and  the  forces  he  started  will  go 
on  toward  making  better  homes  and  better  communities 
everywhere.  —  The  University  Missourian,  Columbia, 
Missouri. 

If  therefore  you  should  ask  what  is  William  Rockhill 
Nelson's  monument,  we  would  answer,  "Kansas  City." 
Not,  indeed,  the  Kansas  City  of  packing-houses,  ma- 
chinery depots,  rich  department  stores  ;  these  come  with 
geographical  location  and  population.  The  Kansas  City 
Mr.  Nelson  lived  for  was  the  ideal,  the  spiritual  Kansas 
City,  the  Kansas  City  of  the  Cliff  Drive,  the  parks, 
boulevards,  art  gallery;  the  Kansas  City  of  beautiful 
streets;  the  Kansas  City  of  a  happy,  thrifty,  well-gov- 
erned, well-educated,  self-respecting  people. 

To  this  end  he  created  a  paper  to  read,  which  was 
itself  almost  a  liberal  education.  Morning  and  evening, 
every  day,  he  sent  through  the  homes  of  the  city  a 
morning  paper  and  an  evening  paper  which  never  ap- 
peared that  it  did  not  bring  columns,  if  not  pages,  of 
real  literature,  real  education,  not  dry-as-dust  stuff  in 
mummy  cloths  that  stank  of  death,  but  vitalized,  mod- 
ernized, luminous,  twice  a  day  a  lesson  in  liberal  culture 


APPENDIX  257 

at  all  points  of  life.  —  The  Central  Christian  Advocate, 
Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

They  are  praising  William  R.  Nelson  as  a  great, 
modern  tribune  of  the  people.  But  we,  in  Kansas  City, 
see  something  which  the  sociologists  cannot  see,  which 
no  political  mind  at  a  distance  can  see.  They  do  not 
understand  the  story  of  the  Vision. 

For  my  part,  I  think  the  best  picture  of  him  is  the 
master  sculptor  reshaping  the  vision  of  Kansas  City. 

He  arrived  just  in  time.  The  town  was  unpaved,  un- 
tamed, and  unashamed.  Only  William  R.  Nelson  saw 
that  the  topography  had  natural  elements  of  beauty.  He 
was  the  only  citizen  of  the  young  metropolis  whose  ver- 
sion of  the  Vision  was  beautiful.  His  task  was  like  a 
sculptor  trying  to  shape  a  rebellious,  jeering  stone.  .  .  . 
The  Star  painted  the  glory  of  trees  to  a  public  which 
had  burned  trees  as  firewood.  It  preached  about  breath- 
ing-places in  a  town  that  was  one- half  vacant  lots.  .  .  . 

It  is  doubtful  if  there  was  another  man  in  the  world 
who  would  have  gone  through  with  it.  Like  a  cyclopean 
sculptor,  Nelson  grappled  with  the  object  and  strove  to 
outline  the  figure.  Gradually  the  town  saw  the  new 
Vision.  And  it  triumphed.  .  .  .  And  there  was  a  pro- 
found lesson  in  it.  It  contained  the  life-germ  of  human 
uplift.  For  if  you  can  make  the  crowd  behold  a  vision, 
lo!  you  have  an  army  with  banners. — P.  T.  in  The 
Independent,  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

Surely,  if  reward  comes  for  deeds  accomplished  in 
the  flesh, — accomplished  or  earnestly  striven  after, — 


258  APPENDIX 

Mr.  Nelson's  recompense  will  be  no  small  one.  A  com- 
monwealth bettered  for  his  being  here,  acknowledges  the 
debt.  —  The  Enterprise ;  Sheldon,  Missouri. 

Not  in  the  history  of  this  country  has  there  been  as 
much  space  in  editorial  tributes  on  the  death  of  a  pri- 
vate citizen  as  there  is  being  published  in  eulogy  on 
the  life  and  character  of  the  late  William  R.  Nelson, 
editor  and  owner  of  the  Kansas  City  Star.  And  that  is 
not  because  he  has  made  ten  or  fifteen  million  dollars 
in  the  newspaper  business,  either,  but  wholly  because 
Nelson,  the  man,  deserved  the  tributes.  —  The  Daily 
Argus,  Brookfield,  Missouri. 

William  Rockhill  Nelson,  founder,  owner,  and  editor 
of  The  Kansas  City  Star,  is  dead.  The  editors  of  The 
Word  and  Way  have  not  known  Mr.  Nelson  personally 
in  any  intimate  way.  Mostly  we  have  known  him  by 
his  works,  and  have  judged  the  tree  by  its  fruit.  We 
have  no  desire  and  no  purpose  to  speak  of  him  here  in 
terms  of  extravagant  or  fulsome  praise,  but  Mr.  Nelson 
was,  beyond  all  disputation,  an  extraordinary  man.  Mr. 
Nelson,  whatever  his  enemies  may  say  of  him, — and 
his  enemies  have  been  many,  — was  a  man  of  high  civic 
and  moral  ideals.  And  these  ideals  he  followed  unflag- 
gingly,  and  often  exasperatingly,  to  men  of  lower  ideals 
and  no  ideals.  The  Star  has  been  a  moulder  of  public 
opinion.  It  would  be  impossible  to  calculate  the  value 
that  The  Star  has  been  in  Kansas  City  and  the  country 
at  large  in  its  work  of  inspiring  and  developing  public 
sentiment  of  the  wholesome  kind.  The  Star  has  persist- 
ently, consistently,  and  effectively  fought  the  battles  in 


APPENDIX 


259 


the  city  that  it  has  had  such  a  large  part  in  making,  for 
cleanliness,  justice,  and  righteousness.  In  the  growth  of 
Kansas  City  The  Star  has  led  every  worthy  enterprise. 
The  city's  system  of  parks  and  boulevards  and  driveways 
has  been  influentially  promoted  by  The  Star.  The  in- 
fluence of  The  Star  on  the  industrial,  moral,  and  reli- 
gious life  of  the  city  has  been  of  the  most  salutary  sort. 
And  The  Star  has  not  failed  to  lift  its  voice  against  the 
saloon  and  its  corrupting  influences,  and  against  corrupt 
partisan  politics  in  the  city  government.  The  stand  which 
The  Star  has  taken  against  the  bad  element  and  the  bad 
policies  and  conditions  in  the  city  has  made  for  it  and  its 
editor  many  bitter  enemies.  But  it  should  be  known,  and 
will  be  known  in  the  course  of  time,  that  Mr.  Nelson's 
enemies,  for  the  most  part,  have  been  made  by  his  war- 
fare through  The  Star  against  the  wrong  and  the  bad. 
The  Star  has  eschewed  everything  that  savored  of  yel- 
low journalism.  Its  policies  have  been  dignified  and  con- 
structive. The  Kansas  City  Star  holds  an  enviable  place 
in  the  field  of  American  journalism.  It  stands  to-day  in 
the  front  rank  and  is,  perhaps,  in  the  real  elements  of 
greatness,  the  greatest  American  daily.  Its  pages  are  al- 
ways clean,  its  contentions  just,  and  its  moral  tone  whole- 
some and  heartening. 

The  thoughtful  and  virtuous  honor  the  name  of  William 
R.  Nelson,  and  these  will  fondly  cherish  his  memory. — 
The  Word  and  Way  and  Central  Baptist,  Kansas  City, 
Missouri. 

For  twenty-nine  years  the  editor  of  this  journal  has 
closely  observed  the  policies  and  progress  of  The  Kansas 


26o  APPENDIX 

City  Star,  admired  its  sturdy  independence,  and  wondered 
at  that  which  has  been  indeed  wonderful,  its  never-end- 
ing fight  against  whatever  odds  for  civic  cleanliness  and 
public  advancement.  —  The  Implement  Trade  Journal, 
Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

He  was  a  great  leader,  not  a  follower,  and  one  of  the 
most  potential  forces  in  American  journalism.  Kansas 
City  and  the  West  have  lost  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in 
the  uplifting  and  development  movement.  —  The  Illus- 
trated World,  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

He  was  one  of  those  dominant  spirits  to  whose  energy 
was  due  the  metamorphosis  of  this  city  from  a  frontier 
town  to  one  of  metropolitan  significance. —  The  Drovers 
Telegram,  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

It  was  his  desire  and  ambition  to  work  and  even  fight 
for  the  betterment  and  uplift,  not  only  of  the  community 
in  which  he  lived,  but  also  of  the  State  and  Nation. 

He  was  for  public  improvements  and  for  the  promo- 
tion of  all  the  commercial  and  educational  lines  of  this 
city,  and  he  and  his  institution  helped  greatly  to  uplift 
and  promote  Kansas  City. 

He  was  a  man  of  character  highly  esteemed  by  society. 

He  was  a  man  of  marked  and  wonderful  ability  and 
knowledge,  a  great  citizen  whom  the  country  to-day  misses 
definitely.  —  The  Averof  C  Greek  newspaper  J ,  Kansas  City, 
Missouri. 

Kansas  City  owes  to  William  R.  Nelson  its  greatness, 
its  beauty  and  its  growth.  — L' '  Observatore  (Italian  news- 
paper),  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 


APPENDIX  261 

William  R.  Nelson  was  loved  by  the  Jewish  people  of 
America,  and  he  deserved  their  love  because  he  gladly 
gave  his  personal  support  to  all  Jewish  projects,  to  which 
he  added  the  mighty  voice  of  his  presses.  —  The  News 
Letter,  published  by  the  Young  Men's  Hebrew  Associa- 
tion, Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

His  every  act  in  daily  life  was  for  good  and  the  up- 
lifting of  humanity.  —  The  Herald,  Mountain  Grove, 
Missouri. 

His  biggest  fights  were  waged  against  monopolies  and 
crooked  elections.  —  The  Journal,  Mountain  Grove,  Mis- 
souri. 

I  would  give  Mr.  Nelson  and  the  paper  he  founded 
first  place  among  all.  —  The  Monitor,  Republic,  Mis- 
souri. 

We  loved  William  R.  Nelson  for  the  enemies  he  made. 
—  The  Western  Enterprise,  Rich  Hill,  Missouri. 

He  was  a  builder  of  cities  of  the  Middle  West,  and 
best  of  all,  of  honesty  and  uprightness  in  men  and  gov- 
ernment.—  The  Bee,  Rothville,  Missouri. 

It  is  well  for  the  world  to  take  note  of  what  he  did,  to 
reverence  his  deed  and  to  cherish  his  memory  as  part  of 
the  common  heritage  which  great  souls  have  left  to  the 
children  of  men  for  emulation  and  inspiration. —  The 
Record,  Sarcoxie,  Missouri. 


262  APPENDIX 

His  greatest  monument  is  the  splendid  greatness  of 
Kansas  City,  and  that  he  labored  always  for  the  public 
good.  —  The  Democrat,  Sedalia,  Missouri. 

He  conducted  on  a  high  plane  one  of  America's  great- 
est newspapers. —  The  Democrat,  Shelbina,  Missouri. 

His  paper  was,  morally,  the  cleanest  metropolitan  paper 
in  the  United  States. —  The  Herald,  Laddonia,  Missouri. 

The  loss  of  Mr.  Nelson  must  be  felt  by  all  Missourians 
who  are  fighting  for  better  houses,  better  schools,  im- 
proved working  conditions  and  service  in  government. 

—  The  Indicator,  La  Grange,  Missouri. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  the  most  considerable  citizen  in  the 
State  of  Missouri.  He  was  a  good,  great  man. —  The 
Democrat,  Lamar,  Missouri. 

Much  of  Kansas  City's  progress  is  due  to  his  efforts. 

—  The  Pike  County  News,  Louisiana,  Missouri. 

The  Nation  suffers  the  loss  of  one  of  the  most  influen- 
tial and  useful  citizens.  —  The  Times,  Tipton,  Missouri. 

The  West  is  proud  of  him.  —  The  Republican,  Trenton, 
Missouri. 

He  did  much  to  shape  and  mould  and  give  character 
to  Kansas  City.  —  The  Leader,  Versailles,  Missouri. 


APPENDIX  263 

He  died  as  he  lived,  true  and  intrepid.  To  this  spirit 
the  progress  of  Kansas  City  for  the  last  thirtv  years 
stands  as  a  living  monument.  —  The  Chronicle,  Weston, 
Missouri. 

He  fought  graft  and  greed  in  every  form.  —  The  Peo- 
ple's Searchlight,  West  Plains,  Missouri. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  unswervingly  loyal  to  his  people.  — 
The  Herald,  Marceline,  Missouri. 

Mr.  Nelson's  creed  was  independence  and  public  serv- 
ice. —  The  Signal,  Mercer,  Missouri. 

The  Milan  Standard  grieves  with  the  entire  newspaper 
fraternity  of  Missouri  in  the  death  of  William  Rockhill 
Nelson. —  The  Standard,  Milan,  Missouri. 

There 's  inspiration  in  the  career  of  William  R.  Nelson 
to  all  men  —  and  most  especially  to  newspaper  men. — 
The  News-Jeffersonian,  Mound  City,  Missouri. 

Colonel  Nelson  was  a  remarkable  character,  a  combi- 
nation of  brains,  courage,  and  executive  ability. —  The 
Democrat,  Bethany,  Missouri. 

We  have  lost  one  of  our  greatest  and  best  men. — 
The  Record,  Blairstown,  Missouri. 

He  was  the  great  apostle  of  the  rights  of  the  people. 
—  The  Constitution,  Chillicothe,  Missouri. 


264  APPENDIX 

His  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  newspaper  careers 
ever  known.  —  The  Times ,  Columbia,  Missouri. 

He  has  been  back  of  Kansas  City  and  has  made  the 
city  what  it  is.  —  The  Star,  Drexel,  Missouri. 

He  made  The  Star  one  of  the  greatest  newspapers. — 
The  Journal,  Edgerton,  Missouri. 

The  Star  was  always  on  the  right  side  of  all  moral 
questions.  —  The  Democrat,  Gallatin,  Missouri. 

He  did  all  he  could  for  the  betterment  of  Kansas  City. 
■ —  The  Enterprise,  Goxver,  Missouri. 

The  Star  stood  for  what  was  best  for  the  people.  — 

The  Local-Mews,  Green  Ridge,  Missouri. 

Mr.  Nelson  and  his  paper  have  had  much  to  do  in 
making  Kansas  City  what  it  is  to-day.  —  The  Gem, 
Jameson,  Missouri. 

He  was  a  man  among  men ;  he  always  espoused  the 
right  against  the  wrong.  —  The  Chariton  Record,  Keytes- 
ville,  Missouri. 

Mr.  Nelson  was  a  great  factor  in  the  upbuilding  of 
Kansas  City  and  the  State.  —  The  Hustler-Leader,  Hale, 
Missouri. 

The  Star  was  recognized  as  being  ever  ready  to  take 
up  arms  against  vice  and  immorality.  —  The  News,  St. 
James,  Missouri. 


APPENDIX  265 

He  was  areal  newspaper  genius.  —  The  Press,  Cart/iage, 
Missouri. 

He  had  something  to  say  and  he  said  it  fearlessly. — 

The  Republican  Headlight,  Union,  Missouri. 

He  fought  for  the  under  man  and  launched  many  civic 
movements  that  have  borne  good  fruit,  and  these  move- 
ments will  continue  to  enlarge.  He  fought  for  clean 
elections  and  was  a  great  leader  in  movements  for  the 
betterment  of  men. —  The  Times,  Altamont,  Missouri. 

He  wielded  an  untiring  fight  against  vice,  crooked 
politics,  and  graft.  —  The  Live  Wire,  Altamont,  Missouri. 

He  went  ahead  doing  what  he  thought  was  right  and 
won  out.  —  The  News,  Cameron,  Missouri. 

No  newspaper  man  who  has  a  knowledge  of  the  ethics 
and  standards  of  the  profession  can  but  spare  a  wreath 
for  the  bier  of  William  Rockhill  Nelson.  —  The  Bulletin, 
Linneus,  Missowi. 

His  paper  ranked  high  among  the  truly  great  news- 
papers of  America.  —  The  News,  Linneus,  Missowi. 

You  can  find  thousands  of  people  over  the  Mississippi 
Valley  who  steadfastly  maintain  that  he  has  made  Kan- 
sas City  the  great  center  it  is.  —  The  Views,  Garden  City, 
Missouri. 


266  APPENDIX 

He  was  a  reformer  of  the  whip-cord  type  and  fought 
valiantly  to  keep  the  city  and  the  temple  clean.  —  The 
Howard  Courant,  Fayette,  Missouri. 

He  has  set  the  pace  for  newspaper  men  of  the  world. 

—  The  News-Review,  Anderson,  Missouri. 

We  have  always  admired  his  courage,  dominance,  per- 
sistence, and  enthusiasm. —  The  Bee,  Braymer,  Missouri. 

He  did  more  for  the  advancement  of  Kansas  City  and 
surrounding  territory  than  any  other  one  man.  —  The 

Tribune,  Liberty,  Missouri. 

The  Kansas  City  Star  took  the  first  decided  stand 
against  Mr.  Booze  of  all  the  great  dailies  in  America. — 
The  William  Jewell  Student,  Liberty,  Missowi. 

His  conscience  was  the  sole  criterion  of  his  deeds  and 
words.  —  The  Missourian,  Glasgow,  Missouri. 

We  have  read  The  Star  continuously  for  fifteen  years, 
and  remember  no  word,  line,  or  paragraph  that  could 
have  been  construed  to  bear  a  shady  meaning,  nor  have 
we  seen  an  advertisement  offering  a  commodity  for  sale 
that  would  be  harmful  to  manhood  or  womanhood.— 
The  Journal,  Tina,  Missowi. 

He  was  always  on  the  side  of  honesty  and  the  greatest 
amount  of  good  for  the  largest  number  of  people  —  the 
people  who  labor. —  The  Globe,  Gilliam,  Missouri. 


APPENDIX  267 

He  has  done  more  for  the  betterment  of  mankind  than 
any  one  man  that  we  know  of.  —  The  Appeal,  Paris,  Mis- 
souri. 

Butcher,  baker,  banker,  or  candlestick-maker,  all 
looked  alike  to  The  Star.  It  was  an  instrument  of  public 
service  first,  a  personal  belonging  next.  The  Star,  de- 
spite its  owner's  millions,  is  the  most  radical  and  the 
most  powerful  champion  of  social  and  economic  justice 
in  the  Nation  to-day.  It  is  the  friend  of  the  disinherited, 
the  defender  of  the  under  dog.  Again  we  say  that  none 
but  a  big  man  could  have  so  done — and  he  won,  too. — 
The  Mercury,  Paris,  Missouri. 

Ignoring  the  petty  attacks  of  cheap  politicians,  W.  R. 
Nelson  ploughed  straight  ahead  in  the  course  marked 
out.  He  was  a  great  newspaper  man.  —  The  News,  Har- 
risonville,  Missouri. 

His  fight  against  the  graft  that  was  licking  up  the 
metropolis  will  be  far-reaching  in  the  future.  —  The  Home- 
Press,  La  Plata,  Missouri. 

His  influence  for  good  extended  far  and  wide.  —  The 
Journal,  Kirksville,  Missouri. 

He  devoted  every  energy  of  his  great  mind  to  the  de- 
velopment of  an  ideal  citizenship.  —  The  Graphic,  Kirks- 
ville, Missouri. 

Journalism  of  the  great  Middle  West  has  received  an 
uplift,  an  inspiration  to  the  new  journalism  as  founded 


268  APPENDIX 

by  this  fallen  brother.  The  Star  stands  for  service  to  a 
community  and  state  rather  than  sordid,  selfish  ends. 
—  The  Border  Telephone,  Hume,  Missouri. 

The  Star  and  Mr.  Nelson  have  always  stood  for  that 
which  is  good  and  steadfastly  fought  against  that  which 
is  evil.  —  The  Herald,  Palmyra,  Missouri. 

The  Star  owes  its  magnificent  prestige  to  the  fact  that 
it  published  the  truth.  —  The  Progress,  Holden,  Missouri. 

Few  men  in  the  world  ever  stood  up  and  fought  so 
unflinchingly  for  their  ideals  and  principles  as  did  this 
master  of  men. —  The  Call,  Excelsior  Springs,  Missou?i. 

He  has  been  a  tremendous  power  in  the  upbuilding  of 
Kansas  City  materially  and  morally,  winning  the  love  of 
all  who  loved  the  right  and  the  hatred  of  all  who  pre- 
ferred darkness  to  light.  —  The  Democrat,  Warrensburg, 
Missouri. 

His  was  a  success  which  lays  up  store  for  eternity.  — 
The  Star- Journal,  Warrensburg,  Missouri. 

The  Nation  has  lost  one  of  its  greatest  editors  and  pub- 
lic-spirited men. —  The  Herald,  Stansberry,  Missouri. 

William  Rockhill  Nelson  was  one  of  the  makers  of  the 
Middle  West. —  The  Jeffersonian,  Higginsville,  Missouri. 

His  life  was  one  of  wonderful  service  to  the  Middle 
West.  —  The  Journal,  Higginsville,  Missouri. 


APPENDIX  269 

Kansas  City  and  the  Central  States  will  never  forget 
this  great  man. —  The  Eagle,  Sweet  Springs,  Missouri. 

A  great  city  lost  its  best  and  ablest  citizen  when 
W.  R.  Nelson  died.  The  whole  country  lost,  too,  in  like 
proportion. —  The  Herald,  Belton,  Missouri. 

To  many  a  struggling  newspaper  owner  and  editor, 
Colonel  Nelson  has  been  a  shining  example  of  the  work 
a  newspaper  can  do,  of  the  leadership  a  newspaper  can 
hold,  and  a  proof  that  success,  in  influence,  accomplish- 
ment, and  in  enjoying  the  best  things  of  life,  can  be  at- 
tained even  with  the  hostility  of  the  interests  which  seek 
to  make  the  press  subservient  to  them. —  The  Express, 
Kirksville,  Missouri. 

He  was  a  great  man  because  he  had  the  interests  of 
the  masses  at  heart  and  loved  humanity.  —  The  Rustler, 
Slater,  Missouri. 

He  was  one  of  the  greatest  builders  for  good  the  world 
has  ever  known. —  The  Leader,  Norborne,  Missouri. 

He  stood  up  for  more  things  that  were  right  than  any 
other  big  paper  in  the  country. —  The  Democrat,  Odessa, 

Missouri. 

It  was  rugged  honor  that  placed  Mr.  Nelson  among 
the  greatest  of  his  time. —  The  Argus,  Platte  City,  Mis- 
souri. 


270  APPENDIX 

No  scheme  for  the  betterment  of  the  community  ever 
appealed  to  Colonel  William  Rockhill  Nelson  in  vain.  — 
The  Democrat^  Plattsburg,  Missouri. 

Through  his  great  newspapers  Mr.  Nelson  was  always 
striving  to  do  good.  —  The  Times,  Pleasant  Hill,  Missouri. 

His  big,  kind  heart  was  known  to  his  many  thousands 
of  readers. —  The  Index,  Puxico,  Missouri. 

His  every  breath,  his  very  being,  was  dedicated  to  the 
task  of  uplifting  and  the  betterment  of  the  human  family. 
■ — The  Register,  Webb  City,  Missouri . 

Much  that  Kansas  City  is  can  be  traced  directly  to  the 
influence  of  this  great  newspaper  man. —  The  Ledger, 
Mexico,  Missouri. 

He  has  always  stood  for  the  right,  has  fought  the  battles 
of  the  weak  and  the  oppressed  and  has  pointed  the  way 
to  higher  ideals  in  public  and  in  private  life.  His  influence 
upon  the  life  of  the  Middle  West  has  been  felt  for  the 
last  two  decades.  —  The  News- Herald,  Joplin,  Missouri. 

His  newspaper  has  been  conspicuous  as  a  fearless  op- 
ponent of  rings  in  both  civic  and  political  life,  hated  by 
the  trickster  and  loved  by  the  honest,  common  people.  — 
The  Budget,  Brook 'field,  Missouri. 

By  the  death  of  William  R.  Nelson,  the  newspaper  fra- 
ternity lost  one  of  its  most  enterprising,  progressive  and 
aggressive  members.  —  The  Gazette,  Brook jield,  Missouri. 


APPENDIX  271 

Mr.  Nelson  was  the  best  newspaper  man  in  the  United 
States. —  The  Democrat^  Carrol  I  ton,  Missouri. 

Under  his  guidance  The  Star  has  attained  a  world- 
wide reputation.  —  The  Democrat,  Butler,  Missouri. 

He  exerted  a  tremendous  influence  over  this  section  of 
the  country.  —  The  Democrat-Forum, Maryville,  Missouri . 

The  editor  of  The  Star  has  done  more  to  build  up 
Kansas  City  and  the  Middle  West  than  any  other  agencv. 
The  man  that  built  this  wonderful  newspaper  is  dead  and 
we  all  mourn.  —  The  Democrat-News  ^  Marshall,  Missouri. 

He  was  a  potent  factor  in  shaping  the  opinion  of  the 
people.  —  The  Saline  Citizen,  Marshall,  Missouri. 

His  papers  were  always  for  clean  government,  the  up- 
building of  all  things  whether  of  a  business  or  social 
nature. —  The  News,  Mount  Washington,  Missouri. 

Kansas  City  would  have  been  an  important  town  with- 
out Colonel  Nelson  and  The  Star.  That  it  would  have 
been  a  great  city  without  them  is  open  to  reasonable 
doubt.  —  The  Post,  Nevada,  Missouri. 

The  Greater  Kansas  City  of  to-day  is  in  no  slight 
degree  the  monument  of  William  R.  Nelson.  He  was 
indeed  a  mighty  man.  —  The  Republican,  Springfield, 
Missouri. 


272 


APPENDIX 


The  Nation  has  lost  one  of  its  ablest  and  most  useful 
workers.  —  The  Express,  Springfield,  Missouri. 

Strong  men  like  William  R.  Nelson  are  few,  and  when 
such  men  become  champions  for  the  best  there  is  in  life 
they  leave  a  lasting  impress  and  are  entitled  to  veneration 
as  ideal  examplars  of  true  and  knightly  personality.  — 
The  News-Press,  St.  Joseph,  Missouri. 

Nelson  was  the  dominating  influence  for  good  in  his 
community.  —  The  Gazette,  St.  Joseph,  Missouri. 

Through  the  columns  of  his  papers  Mr.  Nelson  taught 
optimism,  civic  pride,  right  living,  the  square  deal. — 
The  Chronicle,  Macon,  Missouri. 

The  press  of  the  entire  State,  of  the  West,  and  of  the 
Nation,  laments  the  passing  of  Colonel  Nelson. —  The 
Times- Democrat,  Macon,  Missouri. 

He  always  sought  to  bring  the  great  States  of  the  West 
up  to  their  highest  point  of  development.  —  The  Repub- 
lican, Macon,  Missouri. 

The  present  Kansas  City  owes  much  to  him.  That 
which  he  controlled  made  him  rich,  but  in  doing  so  it 
gave  Kansas  City  a  lot  of  that  spirit  which  causes  all 
Missourians,  in  fact  the  West,  to  be  proud  of  her. — 
The  Republican,  Clinton,  Missouri. 

This  paper,  not  agreeing  with  him  in  much,  has  ad- 
mired his  forceful,  resolute  character,  his  combativeness 


APPENDIX 


273 


for  any  cause  he  deemed  right.  He  was  a  distinct  asset 
in  Western  greatness.  — The  Democrat,  Clinton,  Missouri. 

Mr.  Nelson  did  probably  more  for  Kansas  City  than 
any  other  individual. —  The  Conservator,  Richmond,  Mis- 
souri. 

It  can  be  truly  said  that  he  was  a  great  editor  and  a 
great  man,  and  his  like  will  probably  not  be  seen  in  this 
Western  country  for  a  generation.  —  The  News,  Rich- 
mond, Missouri. 

He  was  the  best  friend  Kansas  City  ever  had.  —  The 

Missourian,  Richmond,  Missouri. 

The  Star  has  been  the  largest  single  factor  in  the 
growth  of  Kansas  City. —  The  jXervs,  Forest  City,  Mis- 
souri. 

Dead,  he  yet  speaketh. — The  Pilot,  M ay  sville, Missouri. 

He  was  one  of  America's  greatest  men.  —  The 
4-County  Windsorite,  Windsor,  Missouri. 

He  was  a  forceful  factor  in  the  development  of  Mis- 
souri.—  The  Advertiser,  Fayette,  Missouri. 

Kansas  City  will  always  bear  the  impress  of  the  thirty- 
four  years  in  the  life  of  William  R.  Nelson  as  a  citizen. 
His  work  was  one  of  service,  his  success  was  because 
the  people  came  to  know  that  the  man  and  his  paper 


274  APPENDIX 

were  trying  to  reach  the  best  things,  his  proof  of  success 
the  enmity  and  hate  of  so  many  men  upon  whose  selfish 
purposes  he  trampled  and  whose  iniquitous  plans  he  ex- 
posed.—  The  Jackson  County  Examiner,  Independence, 
Missouri. 


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